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Harare (AFP)
Only a handful of sobbing parents huddle together with heads bowed in sadness as cemetery workers in hazmat suits hastily lay dirt on a coffin in the capital Harare. from Zimbabwe.
Fifteen minutes later, the family must leave the cemetery. To minimize the risk of coronavirus, none of the usual funeral rites are allowed, not even a brief eulogy.
Zimbabwe has placed new restrictions on funerals this month following an increase in Covid-19 cases.
Families cannot transport deceased relatives between cities – one of many traditions believed to increase the spread of the disease – unless they are contained in expensive, tightly sealed coffins.
The dead are to be buried where they die, regardless of where their families are, with hardly any of the usual body-watching ceremonies, sung prayers and speeches.
“It is so disturbing to see families falling apart from afar … wanting so much to participate in the debates and perform the usual rituals,” gravedigger Ngonidzashe Machawira said as the group silently left Glen Forest cemetery.
The new directive angered Zimbabweans, especially in Harare, where many residents have left their families far away to work in the city.
Traditionally, in this southern African country, people are buried near their parents, as dead relatives are believed to be watching over the family home.
Burying loved ones abroad or in a city far from their rural home is considered unworthy.
– ‘Unresponsive government’ –
“It is against our culture to be buried by strangers among strangers. We want to be buried with our ancestors,” said Kepekepe, a Harare resident, 49, who declined to name him. full.
“It is incredible that an adult is only buried by a few people,” he added.
“The government should just ensure that precautionary measures … are maintained at such gatherings (funerals).”
For those grieving in Glen Forest, not being able to bury a loved one in the countryside is another source of anger in addition to the economic hardships that have been made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.
Zimbabwe has suffered from decades of economic mismanagement that have dramatically inflated prices and crippled the health system.
“Respect for our deceased parents is all we have left,” fumed a man in his thirties who did not wish to be named, returning to his car after his father was buried within minutes.
“This insensitive government, devoid of any link with our lived realities, has decided to suppress it,” he said.
“They haven’t taken action to prevent the coronavirus from coming back to the country and now they want to punish us for their failures.”
– ‘Unusual days’ –
Like several other African countries, Zimbabwe is grappling with a second wave of coronavirus that is more severe than the first.
New containment measures were imposed this month, with the number of confirmed cases rising by more than 27,000, including more than 700 deaths – figures that would be vastly underestimated due to a lack of testing.
The government defended its decision to limit funeral rites, highlighting the worsening coronavirus epidemic.
“We are in unusual days, where we are fighting for our lives,” said government spokesman Nick Mangwana.
Taxi in Harare Chakanetsa Hafandi, 40, strongly disagreed, saying the new measures were disrespectful and ineffective.
“Those authorized to attend a funeral will always return to the community and may have contracted the disease,” Hafandi told AFP. “They are not tested before or after the funeral.”
“If properly sealed, a corpse is not harmful,” he added. “Maybe they should just ban body visualization.”
The backlash forced authorities to back down last week with a decision to allow the transport of bodies between towns as long as they are “hermetically sealed in triple coffins.”
But most funeral homes don’t offer this option.
Hermetically sealed coffins are too expensive for most townspeople in Zimbabwe, many of whom work in the informal sector.
“This is normally done when transporting bodies from other countries,” undertaker Chengetai Jones noted at Harare’s premier funeral home.
“In the age of Covid-19, we first wrap the body in plastic before placing it in a coffin.”
© 2021 AFP
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