Covid-19 and Post-burial Rituals of the Sotho People in Gwanda South Province in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The Sotho cultural group of the Gwanda South area in Zimbabwe is a traditional, close-knitted speech community that significantly relies on Indigenous knowledge systems to sustain communal alliances that aid their day-to-day lifestyles. The advent of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in 2019 ushered in a significant re-shuffle on how pre-burial, during burial and post-burial rituals—necessary for social cohesion and harmony—are conducted among this ethnic group. The pandemic was a threat to the socio-cultural norms and values that are at the centre of African societies. Both the preventive and reactive measures, whether self or government imposed, had an impact on most of the Sotho burial practices or rituals that were mainly defined by collectivism. Stringent requirements on social distancing, avoidance of social gatherings, a ban on intra and inter-city travel, burying within the province where one would have died, and a ban on body viewing (among other laws) saw the hindrance of most burial rituals. This Afrocentric investigation of the post-burial practices of the Basotho people in Zimbabwe does not only strive to generate knowledge that adds to the existing scholarship, but also documents information about the significance of the burial philosophies of this previously marginalised Sotho community in Zimbabwe. The study establishes how this sudden shift, necessitated by the pandemic, negatively impacted the human dignity of the Sotho community and their mandate to protect the most vulnerable groups, including orphans, widows and the elderly. Phone call interviews were used to interview purposively sampled elderly members of the Basotho group and cultural activists in the Gwanda South region.