Cost of elaborate funerals puts strain on Africans


Story highlights

  • Funerals in South Africa create a big financial burden for poor families
  • Expenses include buying coffins, providing food and arranging for transportation
  • The costs of funerals are shared by the relatives but they're still difficult to bear
  • In many cases, families turn to money lenders to cover the costs



"In the west, marriages are often the biggest life-cycle events. In Africa, it's funerals by far," said professor Michael Jindra, co-editor of "Funerals in Africa: Explorations of a Social Phenomenon."

Jindra explains that such large events, designed to pay respect to the dead and honor one's roots, also provide a kind of "social glue" for communities in many African societies: They are at the heart of social and cultural life, with status concerns, succession issues and family bonds also at stake.

Yet, honoring those who've passed away can also exact a huge financial toll on the already emotionally vulnerable relatives.

Counting the costs of saying goodbye
Counting the costs of saying goodbye


    Counting the costs of saying goodbye


Counting the costs of saying goodbye 03:28
The business of death
The business of death


    The business of death


The business of death 04:48


"In many areas, a lot of people spend a lot of money on funerals. Sometimes, it's out of choice for reasons of status, but other times, it's simply out of the social pressure, and it is certainly putting burdens on people when they don't have a lot of money," said Jindra.

A 2009 report by economists Anne Case and Alicia Menendez found that the average price tag for an "honorable" funeral in South Africa between 2003 and 2005 was about 3,400 rand ($415), which is equivalent to 40% of the average annual household expenditure.


"The costs of food are enormous. The coffins are extremely expensive," said Case. "A family might spend as much money on a coffin as they will spend on their children's school fees for all of the period that their children are at school."


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"People know that these funerals can be so expensive that they'll actually save money for that and spend it on that rather than health expenses that could actually keep the person alive longer," he said.



"The households are really left scrambling," said Daryl Collins, co-author of "Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day" and director at Bankable Frontier Associates.

"The lion's share is paid for by the relatives, but what's hidden underneath that is that, oftentimes, what comes from the relatives is not quite enough, so there's quite a bit of borrowing from either friends or money lenders," she added.

As a result, nearly a quarter of households have no choice but to borrow money, according to Case and Menendez's study, with money lenders charging exorbitant monthly interest rates of 30% or more.



Inside his parlor, a relative of a deceased man agrees: "It is expensive because we have to donate. Each and every member of the family has to donate so that we can manage to take him home."