He said some funeral parlour owners unknowingly endangered the lives of people because of a lack of training and knowledge about the industry.
Without a centralised body to deal with the funeral parlour industry some of its matters were handled by the environmental department‚ others by the health department‚ others by home affairs and some by the labour department.
“There is no single department that takes accountability. The constitution says it should be Cogta [co-operative governance and traditional affairs department] but they do not have laws in place for this‚” Rousseau said.
He was speaking to TimesLIVE as the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Tuesday held an inquiry into whether the current status of the river violated human rights after allegations that raw sewage spilled into it.
Rousseau‚ who has almost three decades of experience in the funeral industry‚ said that the likelihood of morgues polluting the water system was a “disaster in the making”.
He also added that they had approached several government departments to seek solutions. They were invited by the South African Local Government Association to present their concerns at a conference but according to Rousseau‚ but there have been no further developments.