2 graves,one coffin

NGOLOLWENI – A funeral was stopped after the deceased’s paternal father performed a ritual moments before she could be laid to rest at her marital homestead.

This meant two graves had to be dug for Ncobile Promise Mavimbela (nee Dlamini) who had died on July 14, 2013 while undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital.
Initially, Ncobile was to be laid to rest at her marital homestead at Kudzeni on Sunday as per the announcement made by her father in-law Jeremiah Mavimbela in the newspaper.

However, a misunderstanding arose between her paternal family and her in-laws regarding the ritual that was performed by her father.
Ncobile’s father Vankomu Goodluck Dlamini, a retired soldier, demanded to view the corpse with the intention of performing some rituals on it as per his family’s custom.

He had placed a knife inside her coffin as part of kuphatsiswa and this did not go down well with the in-laws. This was at about 5am and it was the start of the commotion as the families came close to exchanging blows.
Explaining why he wanted to perform the ritual, Vankomu said: “Bengimpha-tsisa umntfwanami” because he was not happy about the explanation he got on how his last born met her death.

Bewitched

He suspects that she may have been bewitched (bamdlisa).  
“Silwiswa kutsi bengimphatsisa umntfwanami, ngekutsi ufekanjani. KusiSwati loku.
“Kunemukhwa loyofuna lona lowa-mdlisa. Batsi bona bayakholwa. Ngoba sengenteloku batsi sengiba mucile umntfwana,” he added.
This loosely translated, “The bone of contention is that I had used supernatural powers to get back at the person who bewitched her. The reason I performed such ritual is because I’m not happy with the way she died. According to Swazi culture, it’s not sinister.

“The significance of the knife I buried with her is to point out the person who bewitched her. The in-laws claim that they uphold Christian values. Just because I have performed the rituals, they claim I have taken the child from them.”
Vankomu said he could not believe his luck when informed that he could take Ncobile with him.

“This will give me enough time to work on her. I took my child without arguing with them,” he said.
When performing the rituals on his daughter’s corpse, Vankomu said the in-laws were present.
He mentioned that some of the in-laws strongly opposed what he was doing to his child. He wondered why the Mavimbela family was worried and afraid if it had a clear conscience.

In fact, Vankomu said the Mavi-mbelas did not have much claim on Ncobile because the traditional marriage process had not been finalised. He said his daughter was only tekaed without being accompanied by insula-mnyembeti.
Even though the Mavimbela family did not consent, Vankomu went ahead to perform the rituals.
Soon after that, a meeting was hastily convened by elders of both families in a bid to find common ground.
In that meeting, Vankomu said he asked his in-laws if the funeral would proceed or not. The response was, “siyambonga Ncobile (we do not want Ncobile here).”

Vankomu, who also doubles as Ngololweni Bucopho, said he was more than happy to take his daughter home.
Just before they left for Ngololweni, Vankomu said he called the area’s indvuna about the latest developments adding that he had intended to bury his daughter the same day.

After speaking to the indvuna, Vankomu said he requested some local boys to start digging Ncobile’s grave.
“When we arrived, we found that the grave was almost at knee high deep. And we laid her to rest at about 2:15pm,” he pointed out.
Ncobile’s father in-law, Jeremiah Mavimbela confirmed that they were against the burial after Vankomu performed the ritual on his daughter.

Religious

He explained that this was against their family and religious beliefs.
“It is for this reason that his daughter was not buried at the Mavimbela homestead,” Jeremiah said.
He pointed out that they were still at pains about what transpired on the day of the funeral.

However, Jeremiah wondered why Vankomu did not get a medical opinion if he was unhappy about Ncobile’s death.
Chief Sipho Mphikeleli Shongwe of Kudzeni said he was informally informed about the issue.

“No one has come to report the incident to me. I was also not informed that there would be a funeral,” the chief said.
He pointed out that he was still waiting for the area’s indvuna for feedback. 
Ncobile was eventually laid to rest at her parental home around Ngololweni on the same day.

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