Johannesburg, February 17 South Africa's Hindu and Muslim organizations have united in objecting to a proposed law that could delay cremations and burials for several days, requiring the obtaining of electronic death certificates beforehand.
Traditionally, cremations and burials are performed on the day of death or as soon as possible thereafter in these religions.
The proposed law will require organizations and individuals to first obtain electronic death certificates from the Department of Home Affairs before proceeding with cremations or burials.
Officials from various organizations said this would become impractical when the department was closed for weekends and sometimes for up to four days at a time for public holidays, such as during the Easter weekend.
In a letter to the department, the Hindu Coordinating Council (HCC) explained the Hindu cycle of 'Samsara', consisting of birth, death, and rebirth.
"The Hindu community is concerned that this proposal would infringe upon our religious customs and beliefs. In Hindu tradition, cremation is a sacred ritual that should be performed as soon as possible after death, typically within 24 hours."
"Delays in obtaining electronic death certificates may cause undue distress to grieving families and potentially violate our religious obligations," HCC Chairman Kishore Badal said in the letter.
Badal added that the HCC was also concerned about the potential impact on rural areas with limited internet connectivity and the possible infringement on the rights of those who may not have access to digital technology.
"This proposal, in its current form, infringes upon our constitutionally protected rights. The South African Constitution provides us protection, especially with regard to Freedom of religion, belief, and opinion, the right to participate in the cultural life of one's choice, the right to a cultural, religious, or linguistic community, and to enjoy our culture and practice their religion," Badal said.
The Sunni Ulema Council (SUC), whose affiliate organizations have administered thousands of Muslim burials for decades now, including assistance to indigent families who cannot afford burials, concurred with this view.
"Taking into account the Constitutional rights afforded to the followers of the Islamic faith and meeting the Constitutional obligations by the Department of Home Affairs and the fact that these would be jeopardised by the challenges referred to, we urge the Department of Home affairs to withdraw the proposal of mandatory electronic death certification prior to burial," the SUC said in its letter of objection to the department.
After the department was inundated with objections from the Hindu and Muslim communities, it said in a statement on Monday that while the new proposal aims at curbing fraud in the national population register, there would be no deviation from the existing cultural and religious burial practices of any communities.
The statement said that the current law already requires deaths to be formally recorded before burial, but this is not always followed.
"Registration of the death at Home Affairs is required prior to the burial taking place. Unfortunately, these provisions are not always complied with, resulting in inaccuracies in the population register, whereby persons who have died are still recorded as being alive," the department said, adding that this "loophole" allowed acts of fraud and identity theft, which "undermines the integrity of the country’s civil registry."
To address the challenges shared by the Hindu and Muslim communities, the department plans to introduce a 24-hour digital registration option in a Digital ID platform, which is currently being developed.