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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
PEOPLE nowadays no longer respect graves or graveyards.

Both in the traditional and Christian life, a grave was respected as an honour to the dead and living.

A grave or tomb (cemetery or graveyard) is a place where remains of the dead people are buried or interred and was usually next to a church.

It is considered a place of respect, silence, grief and solitude where memories return and people feel close to the deceased loved ones.

Some visit the graveyard and spend time at the grave of their loved ones because they consider the place sacred.

The word cemetery or graveyard itself implies that the land was specifically designated as a burial ground that needs to be revered and inviolate.

Culturally, a graveyard was a scary place to visit or pass through. People would know that fruit trees near graveyards were not harvested or picked while children grew up knowing that stepping on a grave would result in swelling or cracking of feet (imikenke).

One would not dare take a short cut through a graveyard even if rounding up livestock but would throw stones while standing on one end until the animals got to the other end.

One would remember a folklore about some thieves who stole a bag of oranges and ran into a graveyard. A drunken passerby heard the thieves sharing the loot saying ‘‘one for me, one for you’’ and ran for dear life believing it was God and the devil sharing corpses. Such was the sacrosanct state of the graveyard.

Some people even fret at occupying a homestead which has graves while many communities living in flood-prone areas in Zimbabwe have resisted relocation claiming they could not leave their family graves.

Government also maintains national and provincial heroes’ acres as heritage sites whose significance is to remind every citizen about the country’s history and gallant fighters who sacrificed their lives for freedom.

However, nowadays some people use graffiti on graves, break markers or destroy decorations which is disrespectful to the dead as well as the living.

Recently some daring thieves stole part of the perimeter fence at the Matabeleland North provincial shrine in Lupane.

In Victoria Falls residents allegedly vandalised the cemetery and stole the perimeter fence and roofing sheets from an office that was built at the cemetery.

Some people step or sit on graves as they follow proceedings during burials while others have established paths across graveyards or conduct church services within cemeteries.

Mrs Bimbani Muleya of Chinotimba suburb in Victoria Falls said there is a need to respect the dead.

“As much as we say we are Christians and no longer follow some of these cultural practices, the death of people and their final resting place which is the graveyard will remain sacred. It’s sad how we destroy graves. We need to restore values,” she said.

Acting Chief Mvutu Mr Bishop Sibanda blamed violation of graveyards to loss of cultural values as a result of modernity.

“When we grew up we used to know that a graveyard is a sacred place and I still respect the dead until now. Our culture doesn’t allow us to tamper with graves. When we bury a person we say he or she is resting but nowadays people, especially the young generation no longer respect those values,” he said.

Victoria Falls Mayor Councillor Somveli Dlamini implored residents to have a spirit of Ubuntu.

“I am appealing to members of the public to take care of the cemetery because it’s theirs. Let’s show Ubuntu. Even the Bible says respect the dead but you find people stepping on or sitting on graves and even cutting across the graveyard. That’s culturally wrong and disrespectful,” said Clr Dlamini.

He said the council is in the process of identifying alternative land as the cemetery is almost full while resources are needed to repair the perimeter fence, work on the public toilet and put a tap.

Some apostolic church sects even conduct services at a decommissioned cemetery in Chinotimba suburb whose security fence was also vandalised by residents.

Speaking at budget formulation meetings, residents implored council to restore the status of cemeteries by fencing them.

Christians say a grave conveys a sense of mystery and they tread quietly when visiting the graveyard as if they are going into a house of worship.

In Numbers 19:16, the Bible says: “Anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.”

Fr Christopher Sibanda of the Catholic Church in Victoria Falls said people have lost both cultural and Christian values.

“It starts with even the way people bury the dead nowadays. People now put bricks and concrete in the grave which defeats the purpose of the value ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’. People now revere the coffin more than the sacredness of the body that they bury.

“The burial area should be sacred and respected because that’s a place of rest where we believe our loved ones are waiting for the appointed time for resurrection when Jesus comes to take his own. Probably it’s because we have also lost cultural values. It’s important to also note that Christianity is not hanging in the air but it’s rooted in our lives,” he said. — @ncubeleon