KZN MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Sihle Zikalala, must be commended for his effort in averting a potentially explosive stand-off between black, Indian and white funeral practioners.
Zikalala’s intervention was prompted by an ultimatum of members of the National Funeral Practioners Association (Nafupa), who last month vowed to go to prison or die to protect their funeral businesses from being driven into the ground by ‘unfair competition.’
They threatened to block white and Indian funeral directors from carrying out burials in the townships, under the pretext that they were beneficiaries of an unfair system.
It would have been unfortunate if an issue such prompted incidents of violence in the townships, which have nothing to do with service delivery or taxis community squabbles.
Nafupa claims that black funeral directors have been excluded from the industry.
As a result they are unable to bury people in the townships because the opposition are big companies.
They also claim that they can’t bury government employees because unions own funeral parlours and want their members to be buried by them.
While their claims may have substance, it does not justify the call to block white and Indian funeral parlours from operating in townships.
During his meeting with Nafupa, Zikalala urged them not to intimidate other funeral directors.
If Zikalala had not intervened, the dispute could have developed into something with far reaching effects.
Understanding that South Africa is country of possibilities, healthy business competition must be encouraged at all times.
Violent ‘mafia’ type conduct must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
What happened to the Freedom Charter’s statement, ‘South Africa belongs to all who live in it, both blacks and whites.’
Some few years ago we saw a similar approach by some South African citizens, who felt threatened by businesses run by foreign nationals, accusing them of ‘taking our jobs.’
Judging from this development, it is clear that there has to be a change in our mindset, especially to those who have taken a decision to venture into business.
In this country, no business is reserved for a certain racial groups. As former President Nelson Mandela once said,’ Our business must be nationally and internationally competitive.’
While all of this was happening, has anyone ever thought about the freedom of choice and the freedom of association from the consumer?
There is nothing wrong with Nafupa engaging the government on issues directly affecting them, but this should be without resorting to violent methods.
South Africa is known as a country that believes in the power of negotiations rather than resorting to violent tactics.
My belief is that any differences, no matter how serious, can be ironed out if people were to sit on a table and discuss them.
