Funerals
As part of our collaboration with the Co-operative Group, the Co-operative College and The Co-operative Funeralcare have developed a pilot project and feasibility study into establishing a co-operative funeral sector in South Africa.
The death rate in South Africa is 17 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 estimate), the 14th highest in the world. Funerals are a major cost for familes in South Africa, as in many African countries, where there is an expectation that the ‘send off’ should be prestigious. The average cost of a low-income funeral in Soweto is about 6,700 rand (£600) in a community where more than half the households have an annual income of less than 9,600 rand. Mutual burial societies have been in existence for many years in South Africa to help families meet funeral costs, but the impact of HIV/AIDS has put a strain upon the system and in many cases the benefits paid out by the burial societies do not meet the full cost of a funeral.
The project researched funeral provision in two Johannesburg townships (Ivory Park and Soweto) to identify if a co-operative funeral business could help in reducing costs to families of the bereaved. The initial research showed that the industry, which is very unregulated, is overcharging. A copy of the summary report can be downloaded here.
A group of South Africans visited The Co-operative Funeralcare operation in the UK for a study visit in November 2010, and staff from the Co-operative College and Funeralcare made return visits in 2011 to help develop a robust co-operative business model and identify future support needs. A workers’ coffin-making co-operative was established by a group of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) veterans during the course of the project, and it is hoped that national funeral and insurance co-operatives will be established in conjunction with the South African trade union movement in the future.
The College and Funeralcare worked in partnership with a number of other organisations: Co-operative Funeral Services Managers Association (CFSMA), a constituent of NACO; the Small Medium and Micro-enterprises Department (SMME), City of Johannesburg Council; and Co-operative Policy and Alternative Centre (COPAC), a small co-operative support organisation in Johannesburg.
A memorandum of Understanding has been agreed between the Co-operative College and the Department of Economic Development (DED) of Johannesburg City Council.
This project has been made possible by a generous donation from the Co-operative Enterprise Hub.
Click on the links below to view some of the outcomes of the project:
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