Some Hindu priests in South Africa have come under fire for allegedly charging high rates to conduct funerals of Covid-19 victims.
Pradeep Ramlall, Manager of the Clare Estate Crematorium in Durban, slammed priests who are doing this.
Ramlall, who is also a member of the Hindu Dharma Association of South Africa, said the organisation had received a number of complaints about this from families of people who had succumbed to the virus.
In recent weeks, amid a second wave and a new variant of the Covid-19 virus, the crematorium has had to introduce double shifts amid daily deaths in the city which is home to more than a third of South Africa’s Indian-origin population of about 1.4 million.
“Priests are charging between R1,200 and R2,000 to conduct a funeral. This is not right. As per our scriptures, this is our seva (service) to the community. If a family wants to give a priest a donation, then that is acceptable but priests should not be charging people,” Ramlall told the Weekly Post.
“I was in my vehicle. The priest had conducted a Covid-19 victim’s funeral. While he was in the parking lot, he removed R100 notes from his pocket and counted it before sanitising each note and putting the money back into his pocket,” he said recounting an incident that he had personally witnessed.
Ramlall called on the community to avoid being exploited under the current trying circumstances which was bringing grief to so many families and asked them to conduct the cremation themselves.