What an attractive sight at Mvutsha cemetery!

Danisa Masuku

It is a majestic sight that always grabs the attention of mourners at the Mvutsha cemetery in Bulawayo.

It is a metre-high mausoleum that has become the talk of the town. A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people.

The black polished tile structure rises eye-catching from the ground on the South -West side of the cemetery, making other relatively elegant graves pale into insignificance.

It has become a morbid attraction for mourners, some of whom break strict African tradition and take pictures next to it.

While it is not as elegant as the mausoleum at Halicarnassus built for Mausolus- the largest ever known mausoleum and is considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world- or the Taj Mahal and the catacombs of Rome, it is quite a buzz in Zimbabwe where the culture of grandiose mausoleums is not that popular at public cemeteries.

A B-Metro news crew observed that when mourners are at the graveyard near the only mausoleum their eyes would be lingering on the rare sight.

Mourners in groups of three or more, women in particular dressed in black line up to the mausoleum to catch sight of it and marvel at the exquisite design. Some women could be seen capturing pictures of it.

A woman who only identified herself as Noma stated: “I have no idea what kind of structure it is.”

Another woman who identified herself as Mable said: “I thought it’s a room enclosing the grave. But I’m wondering, does the Bulawayo City Council allow such structures in a cemetery like uMvutsha? I’m wondering because it is the only structure.”