ANC digs deep funeral hole

A state funeral is a momentous event. This is an honour awarded only after a rigorous interrogation as to whether the deceased's life was of such merit that they deserved to be memorialised in this way.

- William Saunderson-Meyer

In SA, however, it has become meaningless. Just another bauble to be casually dispensed of by the ANC government to its comrades, their extended families and assorted hangers on whose contributions have, by any accounting, been to the party, not the nation.

As is the case with so many of the traditions of parliamentary democracy in the English-speaking countries, the characteristics of the funeral were shaped by the British. Initially reserved in its purest form for the titular head of state, it's a long, elaborate event.

But since the full funeral is a ruinously expensive affair it made sense to have a pared down, less elaborate honour for the monarch and parliament to bestow - a ceremonial funeral for senior royals and statesmen.