Paul Mdluli: Dealing with death

Mdluli co-owns a funeral parlour, Regional Funerals, which of late been made popular by the high death rate of Zimbabweans in neighbouring South Africa, most of them without proper travel documents. With many people dying and others preparing for that eventuality, Mdlulis job always weighs heavily on his shoulders. I arrived here about 20 years ago and life was not so rosy for me back as for most Zimbabweans in this country, he began.
I discovered that he was 23 when he joined the great exodus. But coming from the Tshitshi area in Plumtree, Matabeleland South, where the minimum age of crossing the Limpopo River with or without proper travel documents – is 15, he was mature then.
What problems did he encounter? Without proper documents, I had to do menial jobs in a number of companies, deal with unfair practices in the workplace and contend with countless arrests by the police. Riding on both his vision for success and his many home-boys in the neighbouring country, he saved enough and decided to form a business, together with a friend, in early 2004.
We realised the plight of most Zimbabweans whenever they lost their relatives and felt that we had to do something, he continued. Although I have lived here for so long, I still feel for my countrymen and would not like to see them suffer as most of them do when they lose their loved ones both here and back home. That is what gave birth to Regional Funerals.
Mdluli does all the paperwork for his clients – a very difficult task, especially when both the deceased and the remaining relative do not have proper documents and the body has to be repatriated.
We however, strive to leave our clients satisfied. They come to us because they trust that we are one of the best in that aspect, so we owe it to them to provide the best service. Death does not wait for a family to be ready, but usually strikes when people are at their worst state of preparedness. At that time, a funeral parlour is the last thing the bereaved want to be associated it, especially for most Zimbabweans down south, who earn monthly salaries that are barely enough to pay rent and buy basics.
That is why we eventually introduced funeral policies, so that people can subscribe and leave everything to us when that unfortunate but imminent time comes, explained Mdluli. In various categories, the funeral parlour provides policies ranging between R85 and R125, with cover of between R2 500 for children below five years and R10 000 for adults. Knowing African families, our Family Funeral Plan of R10 000 Burial package is designed to cater for the entire family as well as the extended family set-up, he added.
The scheme offers full funeral services benefit. A once-off joining fee of R300 is payable and a minimum of R85 is payable every month. The inception period is six months and the policy-holder becomes entitle to full funeral service benefits after that. Although designed specifically with Zimbabweans in mind, the organisation, which also has offices in Zimbabwe, has widened its scope to cover several other countries in the continent.
We do funerals both locally and internationally, hence everyone is welcome to open a policy with us, because death does not choose a country or region. We have a wide working net around the whole of Africa and are able to take people anywhere at any given time. Other that Zimbabwe and South Africa, Mdlulis company now has clients from Botswana, Mozambique, Ghana, DRC, Burundi and Tanzania, where services have been done.
We are in this business to stay and this has shown during the six years we have been in existence. Located in Berea residential suburb, which is the bastion of foreigners of all African origins in South Africa, Regional Funerals could not be more strategically positioned and Mdluli says that is not without reason. We have to be where our target market is, said the soft-spoken businessman.
While most people, especially fellow Zimbabweans, would shudder at just the mere thought of death, Mdluli has, through both his business acumen and determination, not only seen an opportunity in it, but also made sure that he strives continually to give a good service. He has thus become one of those Zimbabweans who have stood up to be counted among the best businessmen in the region.
When I came to this country, I had a dream to be a businessman and everything I did was always supposed to be a step towards fulfilling that. I am glad that so far, I have not failed. This is what I would urge people, especially young Zimbabweans here, to always do have a dream in your life and strive to achieve it. You will not fail.