Mtukudzi can't bury us all

Mtukudzi can't bury us all

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By Tendai Nhenga

I READ the article ‘Mtukudzi fights claims that he abandoned guitarist’, with extreme disappointment at the extent to which some Zimbabweans have succumbed to the donor syndrome and become an ungrateful lot.

When people begin to point fingers at people falling outside the family structures for what they think is a poor burial, it is a clear indication of the levels Zimbabweans have descended to in shirking their responsibilities towards their own kith and kin.

I am a Zimbabwean and according to our culture, or any other tradition for that matter, it is first and foremost the responsibility of the immediate family to ensure that its deceased relative is accorded a decent burial. The contributions in any form of friends, workmates, employees or other well-wishers should be considered an added bonus which should be received with immense gratitude no matter how small. After all, ‘beggars are not choosers’.

Like weddings, funerals show the extent of a family’s riches, while in a lot of cases they expose the abject poverty which some Zimbabweans grapple with every day. What occasions like these reflect for both the rich and the poor is the cohesiveness of the deceased’s family.

United families will see to it that a decent burial is accorded to the deceased even with the barest minimum of resources and with or without donations from outside sources. Funerals should be a collective effort and not the responsibility of one person no matter how rich they are considered to be.

Zimbabweans seem have lost sight of the fact that a burial is not made decent by the size of the coffin, the model of the hearse or the celebrities in attendance, as all this is no longer of any consequence to the deceased. A burial is made decent by each and every person who shows their respects in any way they can, in an orderly manner whether they are in attendance or in absentia. Whether there is a gold casket or the Queen of England is neither here nor there.

If a family cannot afford a burial which they feel befits their deceased relative, then they should make do with the available resources and should not feel ashamed of what they provide. They should not hold anyone responsible for their failures.

Today, a lot of families are left bankrupt or in severe debt simply because they want to use funerals as platforms of showing riches (which they don’t have) and the popularity which the deceased did not enjoy when they were alive. Families (and friends included) always try to give the dead a hero’s send off yet did not do much to help the deceased when they were alive. It is more so the case that those who demand a flashy burial do not have anything to contribute to that effort.

The deceased’s association with any well-to-do person does not entitle them to any contribution on their funeral from the latter. If, however, any form of contribution is forthcoming, it should rather be treated as a privilege not a right.

In his long illustrious career, Oliver Mtukudzi has worked closely and been associated with hundreds if not thousands of people. Can we then say he owes this host of people an obligation to give them a burial which their family and friends think is befitting them? Surely, the man is not a burial society! Mtukudzi does not owe anyone other than his own family that duty of care.

The economic crisis the country is experiencing has not spared anyone, Mtukudzi included. In as much as he may seemingly make a lot of money (which is from the hard work he does), the man also has responsibilities which those crying foul for his non-appearance at the funeral would not assist him with. The more one gets, the more the dependents.

Most people blowing steam over what they think was a burial not befitting their relative and friend should take a look at themselves and ask if they would have been able to make the contributions that Mtukudzi single-handedly made. If they were not happy with the hearse, then they should have paid Doves or Moonlight for a better one.

Tendai is a human rights law student at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. You can email her on tnhenga@law.uct.ac.za
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