Traditional leaders and communities in KwaZulu-Natal are up in arms after eThekwini municipality said communities will be forced to consider cremation and even deep sea burial and other alternatives as a shortage of burial space looms.

The city's department of parks and cemeteries says it will run out of burial space within the next six months and something urgent must be done to avert the crisis.

More than 700 people are buried in the city's 650 cemeteries every week.

Department head Themba Ngcobo said the situation was dire and something urgent must be done.

He said from August 16-18 the city will be holding a dialogue with traditional and religious leaders, community organisations, funeral parlours and other stakeholders to find a solution to the impasse.

He said the city has just over 5,000 new grave site and some 5,400 grave sites have about three bodies buried in them.

"Within the next six months we are going to run out of space to bury people. There has always been a tension between catering for the departed and those who are living.

"Our study has found that suitable available land is in private hands and those that may be available to us are not suitable for burial," Ngcobo said.

He added that the main reason for burial was for the body to decompose.

"We are hoping that a solution is going to be found so that people can consider other alternatives."

Past proposals by the city to bury people in standing position or to crush the skeletal remains have been ruled out by outraged communities, who claim that these are cultural and customary taboos.

Cremation has also been ruled out by many people.

Inkosi Felix Bhengu, of AmaNgcolosi clan, said the city must buy land if necessary to allow people to bury their loved ones in dignity.

"The city has enough space of its own, it must designate these spaces as graves. Our people will not be able to cremate their own people. It is just not in our Zulu tradition because we believe that people must have a grave so that loved ones can go to the grave site to plead for help, blessings and other things.

"Now if they are cremated, where are we going to go for these things," he asked.

His sentiments were echoed by Nomagugu Ngobese, who heads the Nomkhubulwane Culture and Youth Development Organisation, an NGO promoting cultural issues, who also urged the city to buy more land to bury people.