The department of home affairs has obtained an interdict at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria barring funeral undertakers from shutting down the department’s offices.
The interim interdict was obtained against the unification task team (UTT) – an umbrella body of protesting undertakers, UTT chairperson Thokozani Dladla, secretary-general Kgomotso Langa and spokesperson Muzi Hlengwa.
“The respondents are interdicted from preventing any employee of the applicant [minister of home affairs] from reporting for duties. The respondents are interdicted from preventing any member of the public from accessing the offices of the department of home affairs,” the court order reads.
The order also prohibits the UTT and its members from committing any forms of violence, intimidation and/or harassment against any of the employees of the department and/or members of the public entering the premises of home affairs.
“The respondents are interdicted from damaging any property belonging to the applicant and/or any of its employees,” the order further reads.
Yesterday, dozens of funeral directors protested outside the home affairs head office in Pretoria demanding the lifting of the requirements for individual certificates of competence (COCs) which they say have pushed them to the brink of "death".
The regulations require each funeral parlour to have its own cold room, something that the small business owners said only big players in the industry are able to afford. The COC gives them the right to remove bodies from mortuaries, hospitals and forensic laboratories for burial. The undertakers cannot register any death at home affairs without the COC, which is issued by the department of health.
The undertakers demanded that the department abolish the requirement for the COC. They blocked the roads in front of the offices with rocks, prompting police to use stun grenades to disperse the crowd. Two protesters were arrested.
Langa, UTT secretary-general, said they were not served with the interdict directly.
“The interdict was not directly sent to us in a formal way or formal e-mail. We only picked it up on social media. Today the morale of our members is low but we will continue with the national shutdown of all home affairs as from tomorrow,” Langa said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.