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Raymond Jaravaza, Showbiz Correspondent
Just a handful of mourners managed to make it to the funeral wake of an elderly man from Emakhandeni suburb in Bulawayo this week because his children are locked down hundreds of kilometres away in Johannesburg, South Africa.

To a passerby, it would appear as if the elderly man who died on Tuesday night at his home after a long illness, had no children and had few relatives as well as close friends.

Funerals are no longer the same following the outbreak of Covid-19 which has killed more than 50 000 people worldwide and infected close to a million.

Gone are the days when mourners, mostly family members, relatives, close friends, workmates and neighbours would come from all corners of the country in their numbers to bid farewell to their dear departed.

“His children could not make it to the funeral because of the coronavirus lockdown in South Africa. It is every parent’s wish that when he or she dies, the children will attend their burial but for this old man we are mourning today, there is nothing his children could do,” Councillor Pilate Moyo told Saturday Leisure on Wednesday afternoon.

Zimbabwe also imposed a 21-day lockdown that came into effect on Monday which banned city-to-city travel except when it is extremely necessary. People are supposed to stay at home and only leave their homes when they have very important business to do.

“He has many relatives in the Mtshabezi area in Gwanda but I’m sure they could not travel to Bulawayo as a result of the lockdown. I can’t imagine how his relatives, especially his children, must be feeling after failing to attend his funeral. In our African tradition, it’s very important for the dead to be buried in the presence of their children and close relatives,” said Clr Moyo.

When the old man passed on, South Africa was a few days into its lockdown which confined most people to their homes except those in essential services.
Burying loved ones in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic has completely changed tradition as only a limited number of people are supposed to attend and in the case of Zimbabwe not more than 50 people should attend. The Emakhandeni funeral numbers were within the lockdown limit but what was however disturbing was that the mourners seemed ignorant of the need to maintain personl hygiene to curb the spread of Covid-19. A single bucket with water mixed with what appeared to be dish washing liquid was placed at the gate but very few bothered to wash their hands. Those that did shared one piece of cloth to dry their hands thereby risking spreading the virus.

Social distancing was not observed as mourners, especially women, huddled as they comforted each other while men sat close to each other on benches around a fire.

“This so called social distancing is difficult to enforce as people are used to be close to each other as they converse at a funeral. People are grieving and are therefore far removed from issues of this talked about coronavirus hence noone is taking precautions,” said community leader Mr Mbuso Mlangeni.
The Bulawayo City Council has come up with a raft of measures meant to curb the spread of Covid-19 during a funeral. It has also limited the number of mourners to 30 at the cemetery.

“I think as neighbours, we’ll have to give priority to the family members to go to the cemetery. We’ve done our part in giving moral support to the family during the funeral wake, but they must be the ones given first preference to go to the cemetery,” said Mr Mlangeni.
The burial was set for yesterday at a local cemetery and Bulawayo as part of its measures to contain the spread of Covid-19, is now doing the back filling of all graves.

A snap survey at two cemeteries in the city showed that mourners are adhering to the 30 people or less requirement. Social distancing, however, remains a challenge as many people especially at funerals are failing to maintain it. Funeral service providers have also come up with their own raft of measures meant to stop the spread of the virus. The funeral parlours have since suspended the removal of bodies from homes and are burying the dead within 24 hours.

The funeral parlours are treating all bodies as Covid-19 contaminated hence the decision to bury them within 24 hours.

Nyaradzo Funeral Services announced that only bodies emanating from road traffic accidents and homicide cases will not be treated as having the risk of Covid-19 contamination.

“At the meeting held under Zimbabwe Association of Funeral Assurers (ZAFA) the following was agreed: All bodies to be treated as Covid-19 contaminated except road traffic accidents and homicide which may be treated as special cases.

“As such, we must strictly adhere to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) guidelines,” said the company.

“No removals are to be done from home or any other place until there is an opinion on the cause of death by the medical practitioner. This therefore means we must notify health officials before any removal from home. The police have been informed of this position as they’re the custodians of all sudden death bodies.”

It said bodies can only be removed from hospital when the cause and manner of death has been established.

Across the Limpopo River in South Africa, the government has instructed people wishing to leave town for a funeral under the lockdown to get a permit first from a magistrate or a police station. But these permits would only be issued to close relatives.

These include the deceased’s spouse or partner, child, child-in-law, parents, siblings, grandparents and other close relatives. — @RaymondJaravaza