Introduction

Umuntu ngumuntu ngabanye—this Zulu maxim means ‘one is a person through others’. Ubuntu stresses the importance of community, solidarity, caring, and sharing. As a worldview, Ubuntu advocates a profound sense of interdependence and emphasizes that our true human potential can only be realised in partnership with others (Jahid Siraz et al. 2004, 1–2). Africans believe ‘I am because we are, and we are because I am’. In other words, ‘what is mine is yours and what is yours is mine’. This African worldview values human beings and fosters relationship among people.

However, there is another side of Ubuntu ideology that retards community development and personal advancement for Africans. As an African minister, researcher, and theologian, I have seen and experienced the pain of funeral practices that have arisen in the name of Ubuntu. This article reflects on three aspects of African funerals: (1) the lengthy period of funerals, (2) the condition of mourning the departed, and (3) the expenses that go with African funerals. I argue that we can honour the values of Ubuntu by reforming our funeral practices so that they prioritise the well-being of the living.

  • The lengthy period of mourning

Funerals in Africa take a long period of time before and after burial. In some cases, people will be together for seven to forty days of mourning their loved ones. There are various reasons for this prolonged time frame:

  • All family members must present at the funeral house.
  • The budget for the burial must be met.
  • The status of the departed determines the number of days for the funeral.
  • The tradition of the tribe of departed must be respected—if I do not attend other people’s funerals none will come to bury me.

While these considerations are important, this Ubuntu ideology does not contribute to the economic development of the people. Funerals gather hundreds of people in one place for a long time.

In Africa, the events surrounding death are often described as the key cultural events of a particular area. Entire neighbourhoods and villages are drawn to them, and family members and friends who have migrated to other areas and countries are lured back. (Jindra and Noret 2013, 29)

The time being spent at the funeral is needed elsewhere for productivity. Time is a precious commodity—‘time is money’. All the people who attend the funeral close their businesses and ask for a leave of absence from work for several days. This undermines progress in Africa.

As an African, I value showing appropriate respect for the deceased. Nevertheless, we could pay our respects in ways that are less devastating to productivity. Africans pay a high price in our various sectors of life by taking too long to bury a loved one and even staying longer at the funeral after burying the departed family member. Funerals could be shortened and care for the family shown in ways that honour the Ubuntu values but also contribute to the development of their respective communities.

Being together in one place for many days causes health problems. Each person coming from a faraway place could contract some unnecessary diseases by virtue of being together with others. For the sake of health and sanitation, shortening the period of funerals will benefit our people in Africa.

In addition, taking long to weep the departed means spending more financial and material resources. In the past (50 years ago, especially in villages), African families used to bring food to the funeral house; others brought firewood or cassava leaves to feed mourners. But in modern Africa, especially in urban areas, things have changed. People come empty-handed, expecting to be fed by the bereaved family. Others will ask transport money from the bereaved family members to go back home. Organizing a funeral is even more expensive than providing medical treatment for sick family members. If Ubuntu implies caring for one another—what is yours is mine and what mine is yours—why are family members and friends not contributing financially to the organization of the funeral anymore?

Spending only one or two days at the funeral house would make people more productive. People will be able to go back to their various working places to contribute to the economy of their respective organizations. It would also reduce the burden of feeding mourners for weeks, which can be financially crippling for the bereaved family (Dow and Essex 2010, 6–7). The way Ubuntu ideology is being practised is causing more pain than joy to the African community. This side of Ubuntu should attract our attention as Africans and motivate us to do things differently. 

  • The condition of sleeping at the funeral house

Bantu people in Africa have different ways of weeping the departed family members or the living dead. Women normally sleep inside the funeral house and men outside. In the name of Ubuntu, family members and friends are obliged to leave their beds and houses to spend sleepless nights at the funeral house (Dow and Essex 2010, 6). It is believed that Africans share the pain with the bereaved family by sleeping outside and enduring cold weather for many days. Dow and Essex (2010, 7) observe that “a typical sanction for punishing a family whose members do not attend funerals of others is for the crowd to attend a funeral in that family but not eat the food.” Africans protest, “How can you sleep at your house when all family members are weeping the deceased brother or sister?”

As an African, I do not encourage this practice of “sleeping outside” because it has negative consequences for the remaining family members. There are people who get sick. Sometimes people die because they have not been able to endure the conditions. Maybe people should be encouraged to contribute financially to the burial of the departed member instead. Jindra and Noret (2013, 29) are right to say that in “other regions, as in the southern part of the West African coast, the increased use of mortuaries in which bodies are kept frozen means that burials may be delayed while elaborate preparations are made for funerals that can take place weeks, months, or in some cases over a year after death.”

A person who contributes financially to the bereaved family is doing more to help the family than hundreds of people who come to eat at the funeral house. If sleeping outside at the funeral house could be replaced by giving money and material things that can lessen the financial burden of the bereaved family, Ubuntu ideology would work even better. It is better to protect the lives for the living than to expose them to even greater dangers in the name of Ubuntu.

  • Expenses that are related to the funeral

More and more Africans take pleasure in spending a lot of money to bury the departed members of the family. Graveyard companies are mushrooming, proving plots on the cemetery that cost more than the family can afford. Coffins are overpriced, exploiting the pressure that Africans feel to purchase the most expensive ones to honour the dead. I agree with Jindra and Noret (2013, 29) who report that “in many African societies today, funerals and commemorations of deaths are the largest and most expensive cultural events, with families harnessing vast amounts of resources to host lavish events for multitudes.” People buy expensive flowers and tomb stones to beautify the late family member’s grave. These expenses waste resources in the name of Ubuntu. There are more and more voices coming from government officials and church leaders in Africa condemning these practices, yet in many paces these events keep growing even larger (Jindra and Noret 2013, 29).  These funds should be channelled towards helping the remaining children and spouses rather than wasting them for the deceased, who does not even need all these honours because they are not part of this world anymore.

Conclusion

There is a painful side of Ubuntu in relation to funerals in Africa. After appreciating the value of the African ideology that encourages a caring and supporting community, the blog critiqued Ubuntu with regards to funerals and proposed some possible ways to improve the way Africans mourn and bury their loved ones. 

Works cited.

Jahid, S C, Haris, A. W, Mohd R MS, Golam, M M & Mashitah, H. 2004. Ubuntu philosophy for the New Normalcy. Palgrave, MacMillan.

Michael, Jindra & Joel, Noret. 2013. Funerals in Africa: an exploration of a social phenomenon. Berghahn: Oxford, New York.

Unity, Dow & Max, Essex. 2010. Saturday is for funerals. Harvard University press, Cambridge, England.

Short Bio:

Dr Jesse Fungwa Kipimo is a Doctor of Theology from the University of South Africa (UNISA). His areas of expertise include Missiology in general, Pentecostal, and charismatic studies, Pneumatology, discipleship, African Christianity, marriage, and family. He is the SATS’ Head of Programme Delivery and MDiv Coordinator, a postgraduate supervisor, and a lecturer. He is the current moderator for Francophone African Theologians’ network gathering more than three hundred scholars. Dr Jesse Kipimo is an author of several Christian books and articles an ordained minister of the Gospel under the Pentecostal Assemblies of God and a senior pastor for the Liberating Truth Mission Church International in Lubumbashi, DRC Congo.