Funeral parlours in Polokwane and Limpopo: 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. If no doctor is involved, an authority such as a Traditional Authority can issue the notice of death on form DHA-1680. Most parlours 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 collect and bury where you need, including a rural village burial.
• 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 and community for parlours they have used.

Cemetery fees in Polokwane are set by Polokwane Local Municipality. We have not verified a current tariff, so we do not quote one. Phone the municipality's cemetery office for the current fee and 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 lived in that municipality.

These are national estimates from one insurer, not Polokwane prices. A burial in a rural village adds transport, so ask for it as a separate line on the quote.

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

We have no verified Limpopo branch list for AVBOB or Icebolethu. Ask them directly if you want them to quote.

Many Limpopo families bury in a village away from the city. Before you agree to a quote, ask whether the parlour has buried in that specific village, how the transport is charged, and who arranges the grave, the tent and the chairs on the day.

Two Mountains says its pick-up and repatriation services run around the clock, and MTG Funerals publishes a funeral services line, 0861 05 11 05. Phone the ones you are considering and ask the same questions of each, then compare the answers.

Call the insurer or the parlour that sold the cover before you sign a quote. The claims number is on the policy schedule. Ask whether the plan pays cash or provides services, and whether it applies only if that parlour conducts the funeral.

MTG Funerals, for example, says its plan benefits are services and that no benefits are paid in cash, although it says it will pay back the total benefit if it cannot conduct the funeral. Two Mountains says it will pay a cash amount equal to your cover if circumstances require it. Plans differ a lot, so read yours.

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