My experience with Guta Ra Mwari

| Wednesday July 28, 2010 00:00

When I left last Thursday to pay my last respects to my uncle, I did not know what to expect. This was so because I had never attended a funeral of a member of Guta Ra Mwari church.  When I got there, the first thing that greeted me was a considerable number of top-of-the-range cars, including Mercedes Benzes and BMWs. 

From childhood, I have heard many horrific stories about Guta Ra Mwari. For a long time, I have not known whether those stories were myth or truth. But I came to know a bit about the church over the holidays. There were a lot of things that I found interesting in the way the church conducted the funeral. Throughout the whole funeral services (merapelo) that were held during the week, I heard only two hymns sung.

One said 'Guta-Ra-Mwari, legae la me.' We were not allowed to sing any hymns except Guta Ra Mwari ones. That turned the majority of mourners who at my uncle's home into spectators because they did not know the hymns. I suspect that many of them were as curious as I was about Guta Ra Mwari. Then came the day of the funeral, which was on a particularly chilly morning.

During the week when we drafted the funeral programme, we were warned not to refer to the preachers of the church as 'Baruti' because they are 'Baefangele'. That means we had to change from the usual 'Tiro e boela mo baruting' to say 'Tiro e boela mo baefangeleng'.  We were also on the morning of the funeral told that we would not be allowed to throw the soil in the grave after the coffin was lowered, but instead touch the coffin during the viewing of the corpse, which was quite a departure from the norm.

As for messages, only one - from the children of the deceased - was read. The rest of the messages were to be kept for the deceased's family for whom they were meant, 'not the dead person'.  I was also unhappy to learn that I would not be allowed to put the flowers on the grave.

The flowers would be placed by those who had bought them.  'You bought that flower with your love and you are not going to give it to anyone else to place for you,' said the director of ceremonies.

I must, however, confess that I found that explanation sensible.  Another aspect that fascinated me was that I did not see 'baefangele' reading from the Bible. At the funeral, they read from sheets of paper on a clipboard. Prayers are concluded with 'Ka Bosakhutleng' instead of your usual Amen!  But what caught everyone's attention was the booming of the drum that accompanied singing, and the dancing. There was much more singing at the graveyard.

After this, I still cannot say whether the stories that I always hear about Guta Ra Mwari are true. But from my little experience, I think it is just a normal church and I must say I really enjoyed the company.