“Poor” family must pay R3 000 to bury their daughter

A poor family from Mashau-Mavhina are being charged R3 000 by the royal council to bury their daughter in the village cemetery, but say that there is no way for them to come up with that money. The family did not contribute to the communal funeral scheme and now have to pay the penalty to bury their loved one.

Ms Edzisani Ramavikema’s 22-year-old daughter died on 11 February and was supposed to be buried on 18 February. She explained that she had reported her daughter’s death to the royal council, but was told that she must pay R3 000 before she will be allowed to continue with the burial arrangements. Ramavikema said that she cannot afford the fees, as she is unemployed.

“I’m a resident of this village who deserves to bury my daughter with dignity and peace, and I need to be treated with respect,” she told the media. She said that the traditional council must not stop her from burying her daughter at the graveyard. She refused to accept money from community members, arguing that she is a resident at Mashau and deserves the same privileges.

Ramavikema admited that she had stopped paying her monthly funeral contributions of R10 to the royal council in 2006. The late Chief Godani Mashau visited her at the time to enquire about the reasons for her lack of payments and saw that she was living in poverty. She said that he gave her permission to suspend her contributions until she was employed and earned a salary again. She said that she relies on child support to take care of her children.

Ramavikema went to the senior traditional leader, Thovhele Vho-Thavha Mashau, to report the matter, but she claims that she received no help from him. She said that the local cemetery is in a good condition, but that is only because residents are maintaining the site themselves. For this reason she felt it should not be necessary for her to pay R3 000. “Honestly, I do not understand where the money is going,” she said.

Ms Magdeline Muavha, head of funeral matters for the Mavhina traditional council, confirmed that Ramavikema had stopped paying her funeral contributions in 2006. “We called her to the traditional council several times, begging her to continue to pay, but our requests fell on deaf ears. We also met with her uncle and other relatives to request them to talk to Ramavikema to continue to pay, but there were no changes,” she said. “We are surprised now, because the community are the ones who agreed to contribute R10 each household to help the families during mourning.” Muavha said that community members can’t receive services if they don’t contribute their share.

The matter was also referred to the senior traditional leader, Thovhele Mashau, who tried to solve the matter in an amicable way, but with no success. He said that he cannot change agreements between community members and the royal council, because it would only cause division. He also confirmed that Ramavikema did not contribute to the funeral fund, as everyone else did.

Date:26 February 2021

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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