Author: Charles

Francis Rasuge, a police officer, was killed by her lover in 2004. Her body was not found until earlier this year, buried in the yard of her lover’s house. 

Francis Nyadi Rasuge was finally laid to rest yesterday afternoon at the Horingnestkrans Cemetery in Pretoria North.

There was a touch of sad bitterness at the service in Temba Stadium with speaker after speaker telling the weepy human interest story of this dark and mysterious case.

A white casket draped in the South African flag, manned by men in blue and a policewoman’s hard cap laid on it, was a telling testament that the physical or rather the bones, has finally gotten its dues. The mysterious interferences, others spiritual and man-made, rumours and conspiracies that added to the public’s opinion ladder, were yesterday committed to earth together with Rasuge’s bones.

Ralph Jones, who introduced himself as the cousin of Rasuge at the service, said he was disturbed by the fact that the crime scene where Rasuge’s bones were exhumed has not been cordoned off.

“That yard is a graveyard . that yard is a tombstone. As a family we believe that the crime scene should have been cordoned off because we assume that it is a crime scene.”

He added: “If you were in our shoes you would understand the pain we are feeling today. The pain is unbearable. The pain is unexplained to the family and the mother.

“There were people who knew that Rasuge was being abused and they kept quiet. This is disturbing.”

The mood was both celebratory and sombre, with the SAPS Gauteng Band and Drill Platoon adding the sorrowful tone to the funeral service.

Solly Moholo was also there singing the famous struggle song Solomon. Though not sure about the connection of this song to the funeral, mourners were happy to turn the service into a rally.

Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane, hard-bitten by the inspiration of words, quoted Pablo Neruda’s Autumn Testament, which start with “A day dressed in mourning falls from the bells”, went on to bless the mourners with the words of faith from Thomas Edison and then the bible – quoting from Isaiah 41:10 to Romans 4:17.

The service soon turned into political speeches with minister of water and environmental affairs Edna Molewa extolling the work of the ANC Women’s League, and Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa complimenting his charges on a job well done.

Rasuge was no Brenda Fassie or Whitney Houston, but she was accorded a funeral fit for a superstar or a martyr.

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On the river bank opposite, a small funeral procession arrived, carrying a bright red coffin. A group of men, followed by women in saris, stood around for a while chatting, then opened the coffin and pulled out a body, wrapped in a white sheet. The mourners lugged it down to the river, where they left it with its feet in the water. An older gentleman was assisted down the bank to scoop up water and pour it on the eyes of the departed. The face was now exposed; it was a woman, presumably his wife. The family members all took out mobile phones and ritually took final snaps of her. The body was then strewn with flowers, wrapped in orange cloth and carried to the funeral pyre further down the bank.

A young boy climbed into the coffin and tried it out as a boat, paddling it along the river to join the next stage of the ceremony.
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Posted by Richard Rawlinson

Is it uncharitable to start a brief discussion of Buddhist funerals by alluding to Mark Juergensmeyer’s recent book, Buddhist Warfare, which shows another side of a religion widely seen in the West as purely peaceful? 

This other side includes the recent example of armed monks in southern Thailand defending their communities from attacks by the drug trade and Muslims. For centuries, Buddhist monks have been directly involved in conflict across Mongolia, Tibet, Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, but successful propaganda since the 1900s presented mystical aspects of their traditions while leaving out the violent history.

Juergensmeyer simply illustrates that Buddhists share the human spectrum of emotions which include anger and violence. It nevertheless shatters the fiction of a religion seemingly without shortcomings.

Buddhist writer Thupten Tsering welcomes this reality check. ‘They see Tibetans as cute, sweet, warmhearted. I tell people, when you cut me, I bleed just like you,’ he says.

Buddhism is a way of life that concerns itself with moral conduct and quest for enlightenment. It keeps regulated ritual to a minimum, seeing it as being applicable mainly for the discipline of its monks.

Often credited with more common sense than other religions, Buddhism teaches that upon death what is left is only matter and how remains are treated is of no consequence to the well being of the departed.

However, they, of course, act respectfully towards the bodily remains of loved ones, giving them a dignified send-off, whether or not they invite monks to conduct rites at their cremation or burial ceremonies.

As an act of gratitude they perform rites such as carrying out meritorious deeds in their memory. Rather like the earning/buying of indulgences of Christendom past, they hope charity giving and other wholesome deeds in the name of the deceased will share merit and lead to good rebirth.

They also claim the good and bad deeds (kamma) of the deceased play a part in their next life, a belief that might be loosely compared with Heaven and Hell, but on Earth. 

A Buddhist funeral tends to be simple, with lavish spending eschewed in favour of donations to earthly causes, with the merits transferred to the departed.

However, they ensure the place where the body lies is serene, the open coffin accompanied by a portrait of the deceased placed in front of an altar and a statue of a Buddha.

When paying respects, guests bow in silence, and join in any chanting. Family members and friends may conduct the ceremony but, if monks are invited, they chant suttas, after which pamsukala robes are offered, and the merits transferred. The casket is then sealed.