{"id":33088,"date":"2021-01-19T22:25:05","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T20:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=33088"},"modified":"2021-01-19T19:00:22","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T17:00:22","slug":"buried-by-strangers-funeral-curbs-raise-ire-in-zimbabwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/buried-by-strangers-funeral-curbs-raise-ire-in-zimbabwe","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Buried By Strangers\u2019: Funeral Curbs Raise Ire In Zimbabwe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>AFP<\/b> – Only a handful of sobbing relatives huddle together, heads lowered in sorrow, as cemetery workers in hazmat suits hastily shovel dirt over a coffin in Zimbabwe\u2019s capital Harare.<\/p>\n

Fifteen minutes later the family must leave the cemetery. To minimise coronavirus risks, none of the usual funeral rites are permitted, not even a brief eulogy.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe imposed new restrictions on funerals this month following a rise in Covid-19 cases.<\/p>\n

Families may not transport deceased relatives between cities \u2014 one of several traditions believed to be increasing the spread of the disease \u2014 unless they are contained in expensive, hermetically sealed coffins.<\/p>\n

The dead must be buried where they pass away, regardless of their family\u2019s location, with barely any of the usual body-viewing ceremonies, sung prayers and speeches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so disturbing to see families breaking down from a distance\u2026 wanting so hard to be part of proceedings and perform the usual rituals,\u201d said gravedigger Ngonidzashe Machawira as the group filed silently out of Glen Forest Cemetery.<\/p>\n

The new directive has angered Zimbabweans, particularly in Harare, where many residents have left family far away in order to work in the city.<\/p>\n

Traditionally in the southern African country, people are buried close to their kin, as it is believed that dead relatives watch over the family home.<\/p>\n

Burying loved ones abroad or in a city far from their rural home is considered undignified.<\/p>\n

\u2013 \u2018Insensitive government\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is against our culture to be buried by strangers in the midst of strangers. We want to be buried among our ancestors,\u201d said Harare resident Kepekepe, 49, who did not wish to give his full name.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unheard of that an adult is buried by only a few people,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government should just make sure that precautionary measures\u2026 are maintained during such gatherings (funerals).\u201d<\/p>\n

For mourners at Glen Forest, being unable to bury a loved one in the countryside is yet another source of ire on top of grinding economic hardships that have been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe has suffered from decades of economic mismanagement that has drastically inflated prices and crippled the healthcare system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe respect for our dead relatives is all we had (left),\u201d fumed a man in his thirties who did not wish to be named, walking back to his car after his father was buried in a matter of minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis insensitive government, devoid of all connection to our lived realities, has decided to take it away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey failed to put measures to stop coronavirus coming back into the country and now they want to punish us for their failures.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 \u2018Unusual days\u2019 \u2013<\/b><\/p>\n

Like several other African countries, Zimbabwe is grappling with a second wave of coronavirus that is more serious than the first.<\/p>\n

New confinement measures were imposed this month as the number of confirmed cases rose over 27,000, including more than 700 deaths \u2014 figures believed to be widely underestimated because of a lack of testing.<\/p>\n

The government has defended its decision to limit funeral rites, pointing to the worsening coronavirus outbreak.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in unusual days, where we are fighting for our very lives,\u201d said government spokesman Nick Mangwana.<\/p>\n

Harare taxi drive Chakanetsa Hafandi, 40, strongly disagreed, claiming the new measures were disrespectful and ineffective.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose allowed to attend a burial will still go back into the community and might have contracted the disease,\u201d Hafandi told AFP. \u201cThey are not tested before or after burial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf properly sealed a dead body is not harmful,\u201d he added. \u201cMaybe they should only ban body-viewing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The backlash forced authorities to relent last week with a decision to allow bodies to be carried between cities as long as they are \u201chermetically sealed in triple coffins\u201d.<\/p>\n

But most funeral parlours do not offer that option.<\/p>\n

Hermetically sealed coffins are too expensive for most Zimbabwe city dwellers, many of whom work in the informal sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is normally done when transporting bodies from other countries,\u201d noted undertaker Chengetai Jones at Harare\u2019s First Funeral parlour.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this Covid-19 era, we only wrap the body in plastic first before placing it in a coffin.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. AFP – Only a handful of sobbing relatives huddle together, heads lowered in sorrow, as cemetery workers in hazmat suits hastily shovel dirt over a coffin in Zimbabwe\u2019s capital Harare. Fifteen minutes later the family must leave the cemetery. To minimise coronavirus risks, none of the usual funeral rites are permitted, not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":33087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7,35,15],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":["post-33088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Buried By Strangers\u2019: Funeral Curbs Raise Ire In Zimbabwe - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"AFP - Only a handful of sobbing relatives huddle together, heads lowered in sorrow, as cemetery workers in hazmat ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/buried-by-strangers-funeral-curbs-raise-ire-in-zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Buried By Strangers\u2019: Funeral Curbs Raise Ire In Zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AFP - 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