Funeral Research

My first task for the day was to fetch more grass from Barry near Rondebuild Road but first I had to go to KwaThema to try and see some funerals for my individual research project. When Tseleng and previously told me that there were lots of funerals on Saturdays, I underestimated him! Tseleng and I drove around KwaThema in search of a funeral that we might be able to attend. The first funeral we came across was being held at the church adjacent to Stan’s container. We made our way over to the church but as we were doing so, people were pouring out of the church into cars and taxis- Tseleng told me that they were on their way to the cemetery to bury the deceased. We got chatting to a taxi driver who was taking some of the mourners to the cemetery and he told us we could follow the procession there- we ran back to the car and tried to find the procession but we were too late, they had all already left.

This wasn’t a problem because Tseleng assured me there would be lots of other funerals that we might be able to attend. At this point I was feeling very uneasy- The last thing I wanted to do was ‘gatecrash’ a funeral and upset a lot of already upset mourners. I began wishing that I had have worn a suit so that I could blend in a little bit at one of these funerals… as a white guy I wasn’t sure how welcome I’d be, and I couldn’t exactly blend into the crowd!

Tseleng took me on a short drive towards his house in White City. We drove along a stretch of road that was littered with churches. In fact, there were no other buildings along this road, only churches! Tseleng was telling me that this area was ideal for holding a funeral as there was lots of space for mourners to gather and park their cars. Space is also need for the tent that the funeral parlours erect to provide shelter for the mourners. He was saying that it became a problem when funerals were held at the deceased’s house because the funeral parlours come and erect the tent and hammer the massive tent pegs directly into the road surface, leaving behind holes that water can penetrate and ultimately ruin the surface of the road by creating pot-holes. The need for a tent at a funeral is quite problematic because the house stands are so small. Often when a funeral is being held at a house, the neighbours of the said house allow the mourners to ‘spill over’ into their properties.

Upon reaching Tseleng’s mother’s house in White City we noticed how congested his road was- there was a funeral being held at a house about 5 or 6 houses down from his mothers’. We walked down to the house where a church marching band was playing. Mourners filled the streets and the mood was quite somber. Tseleng bumped into a girl he knew who was visiably very upset- she pointed us in the direction of the entrance gate to the house of the deceased. Now I was really feeling strange inside. I was feeling like I was about to tread on a lot of peoples toes if I went inside the house. Tseleng walked toward the gate so I followed.

On approach to the house I noticed that a tent was erected in the front garden, occupying the entire garden. This was the space where mourners would gather once they had come back from the cemetery to lay the decease to rest. We moved through the house into the back courtyard where we were greeted by a group of ladies cooking vast quantities of food. We introduced ourselves to the ladies and for the first time since I had embarked on this journey of discovery did I feel relaxed and welcomed. The ladies were incredibly friendly and obliging. They were all very intruiged to why an ‘Mlungu’ would be attending this funeral. I explained to them that I was from Wits University and I was doing a research project on the Funeral Infrastructure in KwaThema. After asking them a few questions I felt it was time to leave- before the mourners arrived back from the cemetery.

Tseleng and I drove back to the beerhall where I collected my trailer. It was now time for me to fetch our remaining 30 strips of instant lawn.