Xidumbu Xita Hlupheka: The corpse as a site of conflict in South African families and a call for pastoral care

Abstract

One of the sayings frequently used in many African homesteads, particularly among the Tsonga, to illustrate disagreements or conflicts around burial rights, is Xidumbu Xita Hlupheka [the corpse will suffer]. It is typically used when families, particularly the deceased’s spouses, disagree about where, how, or by whom a loved one should be buried. In such situations, the cadaver often becomes the final ‘victim’ of these conflicts, which frequently involve paternal and maternal family members, polygamous relatives, and extended family members. Comrade Xigevenga’s Tsonga funeral song, Xidumbu Xita Hlupheka, which won a 2012 Music Award, poetically expresses this reality. From a theological perspective, the song reflects the African worldview in which ancestry and collective identity keep the dead connected to the living. Burial disputes are therefore not merely legal or cultural matters, but also theological ones, because they determine how the deceased will be remembered and reintegrated into the ancestral community. For Africans, the location of a grave holds profound spiritual and cultural significance. The phrase ‘suffering corpse’ symbolises an abnormality in this transition: a lack of closure that dishonours not only the deceased but also the cosmic order. On a pastoral counselling level, the song functions as a cathartic expression of collective mourning and as an appeal for reconciliation and healing.
Contribution: Through a review of the literature, this study encourages pastoral caregivers to engage with families involved in these conflicts by promoting communication, providing spiritual support, and reaffirming the deceased’s dignity. In this context, counselling addresses not only individual care but also societal reconciliation and restoration.