Clare Estate Crematorium under fire for fees hikes amid financial misconduct claims

MONTHLY INCOME

- NADIA KHAN

THE Clare Estate Umgeni Hindu Crematorium is under fire for its impending cremation tariff increases on March 1, amid allegations of financial misconduct and a lack of transparency.

An anonymous WhatsApp message did its rounds last week, which raised various concerns about the operations of the crematorium.

The message stated that the cremation fees would increase to R3 020 on week days, making it between 30% and 70% more expensive than municipal-owned and private crematoriums.

The current fees for cremations between Mondays and Fridays are R2 750, and R3 000 on Sundays and public holidays.

It was also alleged the crematorium brought in an estimated monthly income of R1.5 million and had R30 million in investments which generated R210 000 a month interest.

"This crematorium is highly profitable, yet they keep increasing prices by 10%," the message read.

It further claimed that the crematorium was operating illegally, and that amendments to its constitution were rejected twice by the Department of Social Development (DSD).

It has been alleged that financial statements had not been submitted to the DSD for the past two years.

The message called for the crematorium’s financial records to be immediately released and a public meeting held with the community.

It further called for an independent investigation to be conducted, and that the tariff increases be halted until the investigation was completed.

Narend Singh, Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, said the message was shared with him and he would engage with the crematorium’s trustees and board of management to address the allegations.

This week, the board of management and trustees of the crematorium’s society rejected the contents of the letter as “reckless, misleading and defamatory”.

Pradeep Ramlall, president and chairperson of the society’s board of management, said the allegations were false.