Making a living out of death

TRADITION has taught us to value the sanctity of life. It has taught us that death is not fun and that the graveyard is sacred. The consecration of the graveyard and perhaps the respect that it was honoured with in the olden days gave birth to the old axiom “as silent as the cemetery.”
Yes, the cemetery was silent because it was regarded as a place that reminds people of their inevitable end. It was silent because of the traditional belief that those who are in it (dead) are resting and that when people are resting they should not be disturbed.

As a result silence was observed whenever people were passing the graveyard. There were no footpaths that passed through cemeteries and they were no go areas for children. However, times are changing and now strange things happen in grave yards. Footpaths are now passing on top of some graves, couples are sometimes caught having a time of their lives while camouflaged by the serene cemetery environs and yet they are not remorseful.

Sand poachers have also made it their business to collect pitsand from the heaps of fresh ground that will have been used to bury the dead while stories of people stealing caskets from buried bodies have been written. And perhaps irked by the illegal and immoral behaviour displayed by some of the social misfits, the Bulawayo City Council has erected a sign warning sand poachers against poaching sand in one of its cemeteries — Hyde Park Cemetery.

Cemeteries have suddenly become a hive of activity, where because of the pressing economic situation people are treating death as big business. They are no longer bothered when death strikes, especially if the person is not a close relative. Yes, there are people who wake up every morning to make an honest living through selling their wares at the various and most frequented cemeteries in the city. Their business rate therefore is hinged on the number of mourners who bring their loved ones to be buried at that particular cemetery.

In other words and just like people who make coffins their business volume is determined by the number of deaths. They are making a living out of death. One such cemetery where hordes of vendors could be seen doing their business is the ever busy West Park Cemetery. Located along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway, one is met with white thorn bush branches covering the graves — to prevent people from stepping on their beloved relatives’ graves.

Undertakers will be carrying their daily routine, tirelessly pushing wheelbarrows in threadbare and almost worn-out overalls that have blanched off the corporate blue Bulawayo City Council colour. While these undertakers are digging more graves for the yet to be buried, hearses and buses form a convoy packed with relatives and friends of the deceased, coming to bid farewell to their beloved ones.

As mourners sorrowfully disembark from the somehow snaking convoys they are greeted not by silence or a sombre atmosphere but a business as usual ambience as they are fast approached by vendors intent on business. These young boys and girls will be milling around the cemetery with an assortment of goodies that range from cigarettes, drinks, lolly-pops and snacks. Others form a beeline along the periphery fence of the cemetery while others have literally allocated themselves permanent vending positions at the cemetery.

Business remains brisk and the cemetery has turned into a free-zone for vendors who have hope of making a living out of the death — fighting for a livelihood among the dead to cushion themselves against the harsh economic conditions.

Most mourners gather at the cemetery during the weekend as this is the time when their late beloved ones especially from neighbouring South Africa arrive into the country, in hearses donned in South African number plates. The vendors, some of them primary schoolchildren said there was nothing abnormal staying at the cemetery and selling their wares to mourners. They agreed that the cemetery was ‘‘back then’’ a revered place but argued that times have changed.

They said some of the mourners would be genuinely hungry adding that death was no longer something people talk of in hushed tones. One of the vendors, Lindiwe Sibanda said it was the only means for her to make an honest living. She said she inherited the business from her grandmother who was well-known by undertakers and mourners who come in with their deceased at West Park Cemetery. Lindiwe easily makes her way into the graveyards, displaying her foodstuff to mourners who will be paying their last respects to their beloved ones.

“It is the only way that we can make a living. We carry this activity everyday and people buy our foodstuffs, although some do not buy. The business was left by my grandmother and, I just continued from where she left,” she said.

The sting of death invokes deep emotions from those around, and one would expect that there should be some respect for the dead, yet vendors forgetfully and easily sell foodstuffs with so much ease. The undertakers are her friends, and they sweet-talk her for cigarettes and food. While other mourners take time to bid farewell to their beloved ones, some easily escape from the funeral proceedings and have a drink or smoke, utilising Lindiwe’s small ‘‘tuck-shop’’ that has emerged at the cemetery.

“Most of these people come and buy food from me, and at times I take time to walk in the cemetery displaying what I have so that they can buy. Some actually come and buy from here as they will not be willing to walk long distances to nearby shops,” she said.

One of the undertakers, who identified himself as Ncube said they found the tuckshop necessary as there was no-one to provide them with the food and drinks that she supplies them with.

“There are no places nearby where we can get foodstuffs, and these vendors are necessary as they provide food for us,” he said.

The continuous trend that seems to be growing has also seen  ice cream and cascade drinks vendors finding a home among the dead where they rake in profit from mourners. An ice cream vendor said it was now his permanent base adding that it was easy to net in profits as people continuously trickle in at the cemetery where they would buy his staff.

“It is the easiest way to make money as there is a continuous flow of people into the cemetery to lay to rest their beloved friends and relatives. In between time the mourners come and buy our items. One is guaranteed of making money everyday as funerals are fast becoming an everyday event,” he said.

They have traded tradition and culture whose unwritten laws stipulates that the cemetery is sacrosanct and allowed the graveyard to become their work station, their second home where they spend the better time of their days, and continue to make profits among the mourners who would have come to bid farewell to their loved ones.

Prominent historian Pathisa Nyathi said it was true that people no longer revere the cemetery something he said was due to changing cultural values.

“Values have been changing. The dead used to be given a lot of respect because of the traditional belief that they are in a transitional state from the dead to the living dead. People no longer value our culture and this has seen a lot of despicable and obscene things happening in cemeteries. Even the way people dress no longer show any respect for the dead and their resting place. People are no longer afraid of spooks, culture has been changing,” said Mr Nyathi.