Daily Sun (January 27 2014) - IT looked like any other funeral, complete with mourners, a funeral tent, food and drinks and an open grave.There was also the skin of a slaughtered cow to be buried in the grave. THE ONLY THING MISSING WAS THE BODY OF THE DEAD MAN.
Vuyokazi Kibido from Worcester, Western Cape said when they went to the mortuary, the body of her brother, Vuyani Gqotso (50) had been removed by his estranged wife.
"We wanted to connect with my brother's spirit but his body wasn't there," said Vuyokazi.
She said they were embarrassed because family and friends were already arriving to pay their final respects to her brother. That was last Friday afternoon and the funeral was planned for Saturday at Zwelethemba Cemetery in Worcester.
"We decided to continue with the funeral. We didn't bury his body, but we buried his spirit," she said.
Vuyokazi said they were told at the mortuary that Vuyani's wife, who had been estranged from him for three years, had claimed the body.
Vuyokazi said Vuyani was in and out of hospital since 2011.
"His wife didn't look after him. Instead he came back home and was reunited with his family," she said.
Sandisa Gqotso (28), Vuyani's daughter, said her father suffered a stroke after being married to his wife for ten years. "That is when she abandoned him," said the daughter.
"She wanted to bury our father as a Xhosa while he was Sotho."
She said according to Sotho custom, your family must slaughter a cow and the skin must be buried with the dead.
"My father valued culture very much. We slaughtered a cow according to his wishes," said Sandisa.
She said they were not going to stop the funeral because of his wife.
"The grave was dug just deep enough for the cow's skin to be buried.
"We played our part as a family. I really wanted my father to have the funeral he wanted but it is not up to me because he was still married to his wife. But she can keep the body because we have his spirit," said Sandisa.
"I am his eldest child and I do not regret the R25 000 I spent to bury the spirit of my late father. I had no problem paying for everything."
Several attempts to contact Vuyani's widow proved fruitless.
See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....
The Daily Sun is South Africa's largest daily newspaper with an average circulation of 291,132 (Audit Bureau of Circulations 3rd Quarter 2013) and a readership of 5.7m (as per AMPS 2012ab). Its Facebook page can be accessed here. It can be followed on Twitter here. To find about advertising on the Daily Sun click here.
Issued through the Politicsweb iService
