Traditional and church leaders are calling for African funerals to be shortened, the Dispatch Online reported at the weekend.

A group of leaders in the Eastern Cape had decided to hold a seminar to discuss ways to shorten and reduce the cost of funerals, it reported.

"People make funerals a show-off, from the coffin to what family members wear. It is sad to see how our people are doing such things; we need to stop this trend," said seminar organiser Bishop Makhosi Ngcoza.

"We should not expect people to attend a funeral from 9am to 3pm."

Ngcoza said funerals should last a maximum of two hours, and the number of speakers limited.

Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders chairman Nkosi Ngangomhlaba Matanzima said that in the past funerals were shorter and families did not spend a lot of money on the event.

"There were three speakers -- one would inform the people about the cause of death, the second one would give a word of encouragement to the bereaved family, and the last one would thank those that had been with the family since the day of the incident," he said.

The seminar would start on Wednesday.