“Funeral of the Year” is the Industry Award We Probably Don’t Need

Although deathcare practices and traditions may differ across the globe, the dedication of the professionals in charge remains constant. And every so often, these men and women are recognized for their body of work, earning awards for overall excellence, leadership, or innovation. This year, South African funeral directors had the opportunity to earn similar honors at the inaugural National Funeral Business Awards — plus a few awards that could make for interesting competition (and some unwanted attention) here in the States.

Best of the best

High-profile funerals in the US — those held for celebrities, sports legends, and politicians, among others — usually get plenty of press for their opulence or expense, or even for the notable people in attendance. That’s inevitable, no matter where the funeral takes place — even South Africa. So it wasn’t a surprise that the 2023 funeral of superstar SA rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes was a spectacular and well-documented event. 

Forbes’ family selected Broodie Funeral Parlour of Pretoria to conduct both a public memorial service and a private funeral and burial. Both were described as “extravagant,” “five-star,” and “elaborate,” and included a BMW motorcade that transported AKA’s casket in a transparent trailer to an “elegant” church and graveside setup.

For its efforts, Broodie Funeral Parlour earned the “top prize” award for “Best Funeral Service of the Year” at the National Funeral Business Awards in April. They also snagged the honor of “Best Service Funeral Company of the Year.”

They responded to the recognition on Instagram, humbly stating, “It’s an incredible honor to be recognised this way. When you put your heart into something, you don’t always expect applause – you simply hope it makes a difference.”

Interesting accolades

Another big winner at the NFBAs was Matjokane Funeral Services, also of Pretoria, which won the “Most Stylish Funeral Award” for its interesting approach to life celebrations.

“We came up with the idea of giving mocktails at the funeral,” says Sylvester Hlongwane, Matjokane’s marketing manager. “You’re hot, you’re tired and sad; you get a mocktail that looks so beautiful and you just sip and it fills your heart.”

Hlongwane adds that Matjokane provides couches at the graveside rather than chairs, and offers a “six-piece orchestra with violins, cellos, and trumpets.”

In addition to these awards, the NFBAs also featured the following categories:

• Most Impressive Fleet
• Best Branding
• Best Decor
• Best Grave Setup

Providers were also recognized for more traditional achievements, including professionalism and community involvement.

Living in the comments section

As one might expect, the awards — as well as the actual concept of providing recognition to funeral professionals — garnered instant criticism from the community.

The comments were even more interesting on The Times LIVE’s Facebook page:

• “That’s sick.”
• “What’s next? The cutest corpses?”
• “So this is a thing now? Funerals have become a competition. This entire notion is diabolical.”
• “If we are not careful, next funeral accolades will be like: who buried the most beautiful dead person. What these undertakers have started now must not/should not be encouraged.”
• “Why are yall shocked?? Yall did this paying big money for big funerals. You got so invested in the decor and cars that you forgot about the actual funeral so obviously there will be funeral awards.”

Nevertheless, the organizers of the NFBA event defended the awards and the deathcare profession’s right to earn honors for their work. 

“We tend to want to give the best send-off to the deceased. It’s not a matter of showing off, but a matter of respect and celebration of the lives of the ones that passed on,” says Muzi Hlengwa, CEO of the National Funeral Business Awards. 

“As undertakers, we are not only burying people, but we are also dealing with the pain of families that have lost their loved ones. We want to give South African undertakers exposure. We want to applaud the hard and good work that they do for the members of the public,” Hlengwa told another outlet. 

“We may be viewed as a deathcare industry but we are a business like any other business.”