The never ending funeral

On Saturday I attended the funeral of Baba Sithole. The event started at 6:30am and was held in a large tent in the garden of the family. 

Funerals are big business in South Africa and with the rate of people dying and the short life expectancy (I think it's 43 years at the moment) they are frequent and one of the reasons why so many people have so much debt. The funeral I attended cost the family 50 000 Rand (£5000) which is a lot of money in an area where we pay our research assistants a very healthy salary of 4000 Rand. 

The funeral programme ran over 2 pages - entirly in Tsonga. Just like the memorial, the funeral director was leading through the programme with random interruptions by singers which had people jump up in their seats and dance and clap. A lot of ANC supporters had come and there were quite a few "Viva ANC Viva" and "Viva ANC Youth League Viva" chants. The family spoke, as did the Ward Councillor, the Mayor, the Induna (head chief) of the community and the reverend, for a very long time. As I could not understand a word and was relying on the person accompanying me it was a rather interesting event for the first hour and then gradually became a bit of a pain. In addition, the sun had started to create sub-tropical temperatures in the tent which seated about 600 people. This coupled with no running water in the communities (no showers, little washing and hand clothes washing) led to a complete olfactory workout which I would have liked to avoid. I also sat directly under a hole in the tent which meant I was one of the sole beneficiaries of direct sunlight. 

With temparatures in the morning of 5degrees and the mandatory long skirt and headscarf I was fairly toasted by the time the ceremony finished at 11:30am. 

From the tent we made our way to the gravesite where more prayers and songs accompanied the casket being lowered into the ground which took another hour. With all business finished we had to stay for lunch which consisted of a lot of pap, beetroot salad, bean salad, chicken soup, butternut squash and beef with potatoes followed by business chats with the Mayor and the Ward Councillor and more arrangements for community meetings on the following weekends.

By the way, the whole ceremony was filmed and photographed by a professional photography service which is why I also took pictures. 

More photos in the Gallery