The Mpulo family in Swayimana, in the uMshwathi Local Municipality – a rural part of Pietermaritzburg, has not recovered from the trauma of having to spend two days with the body of their loved one who died during the violent July 2021 riots.
With public violence and malicious property damage, multiple companies and malls were forced to close following widespread looting and violence. This later stoked racial tensions between Africans and people of Indian extraction and xenophobic attacks.
The violent looting and killings interrupted everyday life, including schooling, burials and even clinics were impacted.
Jotham Mpulo died from illness in his bedroom on July 10, a day after the riots began.
Nomalanga Mpulo said their brother had shown signs that he was going to die that day because he had called his younger sister and two nieces to say his final goodbyes.
However, after his passing the family had to endure a long wait stuck with the corpse because the undertaker could not get through the blocked roads.
Also, because petrol stations were closed, they could not find fuel to put into the car to travel the 50km from Pietermaritzburg.
The neighbours in the village were also shocked by the ordeal and due to their beliefs, they were reluctant to even come to their home to pay their respects.
“Three years later the trauma remains for us as a family because we never got to mourn and lay our brother to rest in dignity. We had to keep our brother’s body in his outside room for two days and according to our culture, that is taboo,” Mpulo said. Because the weather was chilly, the family was fortunate that the body didn’t decompose rapidly and they did not experience any stench.
“Two days later the undertaker made a plan to fetch the body, but it took long for us to be able to use the room in which he had died and was kept [for those two days],” said Mpulo.
Mpulo explained that they had lost hope in having a funeral for their loved one and contemplated postponing, but due to the violence and lack of resources, they were told to fast-track the send-off.
In that chaotic period, the family had to conduct a ceremony to cleanse the house before the funeral. They were able to get groceries because Mpulo and her husband resided in town where they were able to find a shop that sold them some essentials needed for the funeral.
The SA Human Rights Commission concluded that whereas the unrest was initially, and mainly branded and characterised by the protests supporting former president Jacob Zuma, a tone of racialised violence began to emerge.
The commission also noted that the riots created a climate of fear and tension, prompting many people of all races to take to the streets to protect their homes and neighbourhoods, particularly in the absence of visible policing.
Another issue raised by the commission was the socialisation process, which includes the transmission of harmful stereotypes and narratives that extend beyond the immediate perpetrators, saying it suggested a broader racial problem within the community.
Alan Mokoki, CEO of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said “a lot of people took advantage of the situation and were looting. It was difficult to know if people were in it for political reasons or they just took advantage of the lack of security and police visibility.”
