Death without dignity? Rural funeral practices in the time of COVID-19

Abstract

In rural South Africa, funerals are family and community affairs. They are not usually run by the state, funeral directors, local government officials or hospital staff. They are also not occasions on which one expects to find police officers on duty. Families and religious leaders are normally given relative freedom to bury the dead in a dignified way and according to tradition and religious beliefs. The COVID-19 restrictions do not allow this.