Bringing your loved one home, near or far
Repatriation simply means transporting a person who has died from where they passed to where they will be buried. Sometimes that is across town. Often it is a long journey, to a rural home in the Eastern Cape, to a family plot in another province, or across an international border. We do all three.
We use our own mortuary vehicles, and your family member is cared for and kept coolly throughout the journey. We plan the route, the timing and the rest stops so that everything arrives in good order for the funeral. A long trip to the Eastern Cape or the far north of KwaZulu-Natal is planned around the funeral date, so the family is never left waiting and the service is never held up.
Cross-border repatriation
Taking a person across a border, to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, eSwatini or beyond, needs extra documents, and the requirements differ by country. Typically this includes the death certificate, a burial order, an embalming certificate, and a mortuary-to-mortuary handover on the other side. We know this process and we handle the paperwork and the arrangements so the family is not caught out at the border. Where a receiving undertaker is needed in the destination country, we coordinate directly with them so the handover is clean.
The documents that travel with the body
- The death certificate and, for burials in another province, the burial order.
- For cross-border journeys: an embalming certificate and, depending on the destination, consular or health documents.
- A clear record of the receiving undertaker or family at the destination.
We prepare and check all of this before the vehicle leaves, so there are no surprises on the road.
Working with burial societies and policies
Repatriation is often the part of a funeral a burial society (umasingcwabisane) or policy is meant to cover, but families are not always sure what theirs includes. Bring us the details and we will read them with you and deal with the society or insurer directly, so the cost is settled where it should be and you are not paying twice.
How we help
Tell us where your family member needs to go, and we take it from there, collection, preparation, documents, transport and handover. Your job is to grieve and to be with family; the journey is ours to arrange.
