Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has noted that bodies repatriated from South Africa are topping the list of burials at most cemeteries in the second-largest city in Zimbabwe.
This is happening when South Africa is grappling with the third wave of the coronavirus amid reports that a new variant of the coronavirus, Beta, has been detected.
BCC health services director Edwin Sibanda told the city fathers that Bulawayo’s cemeteries had recorded high numbers of burials of bodies repatriated from South Africa.
Read in part minutes of a recent council meeting:
_The director of health services reported that Athlone West Cemetery recorded burials from outside the city as follows, South Africa (11), Botswana (2), Harare (1) and Umguza (2). Luveve Cemetery recorded bodies from outside the city as follows; South Africa (10), Binga (1), Gokwe (1), Lupane (1), Plumtree (1) and Umguza (3)._
Councillors also expressed concern over the violation of COVID-19 regulations saying some funerals were attended by more than 30 people.
Deputy mayor Mlandu Ncube said it was difficult to regulate the numbers attending funerals as that was against traditional norms.
Town clerk Christopher Dube encouraged councillors to engage with residents regarding the new normal.
More: Pindula News; NewsDay