Funeral parlours in Pietermaritzburg (Msunduzi): costs and how to choose

Tell Home Affairs about the death within 72 hours. The person who gives notice is a family member, or a representative the family appoints with a letter of authority. Home Affairs uses form DHA-1663 when a doctor issues the notice of death, and form DHA-1680 when the notice comes from another authority, such as a Traditional Authority.

No burial or cremation may take place until notice of death has been given and a burial order has been issued. The law counts cremation as burial for this purpose, so the same paperwork applies. An abridged death certificate is issued free on the day the death is registered.

If the death was not from natural causes, the police must be told first, and the body goes to a state mortuary until the post-mortem is done. Most parlours will help with the registration paperwork, so ask when you first phone.

• Get written, itemised quotes from two or three parlours and compare them line by line.
• Confirm they can meet your faith and cultural needs and bury or cremate where you need.
• Ask what is included and what costs extra: hearse, family cars, tent, chairs and the coffin.
• View the coffin range before you agree.
• If the parlour sells funeral cover, ask which licensed insurer underwrites it and check the parlour's FSP number with the FSCA on 0800 110 443.
• Ask family, church, mosque or community for parlours they have used.

Burial fees in Pietermaritzburg are set by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. We have not verified a current tariff, so we do not quote one. Phone the municipality's cemetery office, ask for the current burial fee, and ask about cremation fees if that is your choice. Ask whether residents and non-residents pay differently. Then compare each parlour's quote in writing.

For a national benchmark only: 1Life, an insurer, estimates that a funeral costs R35 000 to R45 000 on average when a municipal burial plot is used, and more than R50 000 with a private memorial park. It puts an adult burial plot in a municipal facility at R2 000 to R11 000, depending on the cemetery and whether the deceased was a resident of the municipality.

These are national estimates from one insurer, not Pietermaritzburg prices. Transport to a rural area adds cost, so ask for it as a separate line.

The law treats cremation as burial, so a burial order is needed before a cremation as well. Richter Funerals, an Eastern Cape parlour, explains that a cremation also needs the statutory Application for Cremation, signed before a Commissioner of Oaths by the executor or the next of kin, and that a pacemaker must be removed first. Your parlour should know the steps in KwaZulu-Natal, so ask it to list them for you and say who signs what.

These are the chains whose own published information places them in KwaZulu-Natal or in every province. Confirm the nearest branch and the current price with the chain.

We have no verified KwaZulu-Natal branch list for AVBOB. Ask them directly if you want a quote.

Call the insurer or the parlour that sold the cover before anyone collects the body. The claims number is on the policy schedule. Some providers say plainly that you should not call another parlour first. Icebolethu, for example, tells its policyholders to contact it immediately, because other parlours will charge and the family then becomes responsible for their removal and storage costs. Ask whether your plan pays cash or provides services, and whether it applies only if that parlour conducts the funeral.

Every insurer sets its own document list, so ask for it when you phone. Old Mutual, for example, lists a copy of the Home Affairs death certificate, copies of the ID or passport of the deceased and of the beneficiary, and proof of a bank account that is not more than three months old. Clientele lists the DHA 1663 notice of death and certified copies of both IDs and the death certificate.

The rules say an insurer must decide on a funeral claim within two business days after it has received all the required documents. That is a deadline to decide, not a promise of payment on the same day. If a claim is declined or delayed, first ask the insurer to explain in writing. Then you can complain to the National Financial Ombud on 0860 800 900. The service is free, and you can complain in any official language.

Ask the Msunduzi Local Municipality about indigent (pauper) burial assistance for residents who qualify, and ask the parlour for its most basic option.

SASSA has no separate funeral grant. If the deceased received a grant and it was not withdrawn in the month of death, the family member who paid for the funeral can claim the unclaimed amount with the death certificate, both IDs, and the funeral invoice and receipt.

Some families belong to a burial society. Read what a burial society is before relying on one, because informal societies carry risk.