Interesting Zulu burial ritual that you probably did not know about.

Around 6 o'clock in the morning, I noticed two people walking up and down a lane of open graves. I was busy doing my rounds in the cemetery to ensure that all the graves are prepared according to my standards, for the burials to take place on that day.

The 2 individuals, one elderly lady and one young gentleman, both had traditional blankets folded around their waists. The colours of the blankets made me realise that they were from the Zulu ethnic group.

I stood under a tree, some distance from them to see what they were up to. We had uncovered all of the open graves for inspection and it could be dangerous if they were to get too close to an open grave. About 3 minutes went by when the gentleman suddenly picked up a ladder that was lying on the grass and aimed it at the opening of one of the graves.

It was at this moment that I realised what was going on. You see, in the Zulu culture, there is a specific ritual that needs to be performed when either one of a twin passes away. The surviving one of the twins has to visit the grave site before the burial takes place. He/she has to climb into the empty grave and lie down on their back while an elder performs a prayer.

According to a Zulu lady that was kind enough to share this information with me, this ritual is performed to break the spiritual ties between the twins. If this is not done, they believe that the spirit of the deceased will haunt the living twin. It is also believed that this could lead to the living twin passing away in the same manner as the deceased.

Knowing this, I ran up to the clients and asked them if one of them are indeed the living twin of someone that we will be laying to rest, on that day. They smiled and said yes. The shock on their faces because this Afrikaans girl knew this was precious.

I helped them to the correct grave and assisted them safely in and out of the grave.

Apparently, the ritual does not end there. I do not have all of the details and facts but was told that for a couple of days after the funeral, the surviving twin has to go through several things. One of these is, being covered in freshly slaughtered animal skin and not being allowed to bathe for a couple of days. As I said, I do not have all of the specifics but found this very interesting.

South Africa is so rich in culture. I wish that I could, in my lifetime, learn about all the different cultural beliefs and rituals of each ethnic group. I will however share those that I do learn about, with my readers.

Written by Jackie Skeen