Roads in Nyumaga village in the Centane district are so bad that a funeral parlour has to hire a donkey cart to transport a coffin to the graveyard, according to DispatchLIVE
Locals also use ladders as stretchers to carry coffins to the graves, because they are so heavy.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic burials have to take place quickly, but for years residents have been complaining about the state of their roads.
It is a disgrace that they have to use such drastic measures to lay their loved ones to rest, villagers said.
It took DispatchLIVE 40 minutes to drive the last 15km leading to the village. Malibongwe Pikisa walked 5km to meet DispatchLIVE because the road is too treacherous where he lives.
Pikisa said that funerals had become an “embarrassment”. “When it rains, people have to organise donkeys. No car can drive here. The roads have never been done. No contractor has ever been here.
“We don’t want people to protest because we don’t encourage that, but we need the government to come and see this because they have never been here,” he said.
Makinana Funeral Services administrator, Mvuseleli Tonisi, confirmed the parlour hired a local man’s donkey cart last Saturday.
“This was the third time since late last year. We cannot drive the hearse through when it rains. People have to use planks and homemade carriers, and that is not good for funeral parlours”. Tonisi said “We find ourselves having to hire donkeys. It’s embarrassing for the families.”
Pikisa said the villagers had lived with the road problem since the dawn of democracy.
(Photo: DispatchLIVE)