By Surihe Gaomas GOBABIS With the recent mass burial of 12 San people in Gobabis, Governor of the Omaheke Region, Laura Mcleod, said that since government had stepped in to bury the bodies, it does not mean that residents should now stop burying their dead themselves. In a recent interview with New Era, Mcleod said residents must get rid of the mentality that the burial of the 12 deceased did not declare in any way that government would jump to their rescue, if they were unable to afford the coffins. “We did not declare to start burying people who cannot afford the funeral costs. It was just that these bodies had been in the mortuary for over a year as no one had come forward to claim the dead for burial,” said Mcleod. She feared that the kind gesture by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Libertina Amathila to provide coffins and burial arrangements through the San Development Project, would encourage an element where people would become too laid-back to do this for themselves. “I know this whole gesture will be misinterpreted and taken for a ride. That is why I urge people to at least try and bury their own loved ones by whatever possible means. There is nothing like free mass burials,” said Mcleod. As it is common in many African cultures and traditions, Namibians have been making plans to bury their own loved ones, even if it meant starting a collection kitty among the family members to raise funds for the coffins. It just so happens that the San people have for long remained the most marginalized and poverty-stricken community in the country, and such a situation has left them with no other alternative but to leave their dead at the mortuary. “Some people call it the throw-away burial. It just shows a negative picture that we the San don’t seem to want to bury our dead, and that is not the case,” said one elderly San woman who stays close to the Epako cemetery where the burial took place. Most of the 12 bodies that were kept at the Gobabis State Mortuary had been there for over a year. With the concept of extended families, burying your loved ones should not be passed on to other people, said Mcleod. She said in the past there were pauper burials where government supplied coffins to those relatives who could not afford to purchase the caskets. “But what happened then was that people started misusing this project and corrupted the system by claiming for such assistance while they could help themselves. This put holes in the Health Ministry’s budget, and so the project was stopped altogether,” said Mcleod. Another problem cited by the Governor was the lack of mortuaries in other parts of the Omaheke Region, which put pressure on the only existing one in Gobabis. “Due to the lack of mortuaries, the bodies are brought to Gobabis. As the Local Authority, we decided we would not allow people to be buried in plastics in our graveyards. That is why we welcomed the gesture by the Deputy Prime Minister,” said Mcleod. The Governor urged the communities in the region to stick to their burial traditions for their loved ones.