"Deaths in the 30 to 34 age group increased by 212 percent between the years of 1997 and 2005," the report said.
While AIDS was not a cause of death that could be written on a death certificate the report found deaths due to tuberculosis and pneumonia suggest many of these deaths "have an HIV component."
Orange Farm resident Lucy Skosana, 46, a domestic worker in Johannesburg, notes how times have changed.
"When I grew up we never used to go to funerals," she says, adding that now, she could attend several funerals on any given Saturday.
At Avalon cemetery there are between 250 and 275 funerals a week, and the City of Johannesburg is having to explore other options, including the opening of new cemeteries.
Trying to get people to cremate their family members, which is not considered customary in African culture, has proved "a challenge," said Alan Buff, technical support specialist for Johannesburg City Parks.
He said the city was currently providing options for families to buy a burial space and for a reduced cost to bury a second or third person in the same grave.
"It is not unusual, they do it in the United Kingdom. It saves a lot of space," he said.
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