COFFINS are buried six feet underground.
But this has not stopped people from digging them up and selling them.
Funeral Industry Reformed Association chairman Johan Rousseau said there have been reports of people stealing coffins after funerals.
Rousseau was responding to a Facebook post where a person who claimed to be clearing out a storeroom was selling 123 coffins.
He said the coffins appeared to be placed on the floor.
Rousseau said the bottom of a coffin is made of pressboard.
When that board is exposed to concrete for a long time, it might weaken and become loose.
Rousseau said there was also a serious risk of body fluids leaking into ground water.
“When these second-hand coffins are used, they might not meet the requirements for burials. Coffins should not be sold to unlicensed funeral parlours,” he said.
He did not know where the second-hand coffins came from.
Police spokesman Lieutenant Kay Makhubele said if people suspected second-hand coffins were being sold, they should report the matter to the cops.
Culture expert Mtimande Ngwenya from Ukuhle Bengcungce Cultural Governance said: “We do a cleansing for a reason. If a person digs up the coffin of someone they are not related to, they are begging for bad luck.”