EDITORIAL: Speaking ill of the dead

There’s a tendency in our country to concoct lies and speak glowingly about people who have just died. A lot of unnecessary exaggeration – if the dead were to resurrect, they wouldn’t recognise the person being referred to. Even the famous Latin phrase 'de mortuis nil nisi bonum', which roughly translates to 'of the dead nothing but good is to be said', doesn’t mean we must stretch the truth about those we are mourning. Rather, it suggests that we should highlight the good sides of the deceased – but it must be true.

If you’ve always deemed your neighbour to be awful, don’t lie in your eulogy and say what a wonderful being they were. Rather keep quiet than lie. In fact, David Mills, a US editor of a Catholic magazine, suggested: “We must sometimes speak ill of the dead to make sure they’re not remembered wrongly”.

A fair point, but perhaps a big ask in African tradition. Last year, when several suspected robbers were killed by police in Okahandja during a deadly exchange of gunfire, the nation mourned in unison. While there were pockets of “they got what they deserved” remarks, the overwhelming reactions were sympathetic and humane in tone.

But no one described the robbers as saints – that would have been hyperbolic.

The dead themselves would not have accepted that tag, for they knew they were anything but virtuous. Truth must be spoken for its own sake.

And where the truth is unflattering, silence is the wisest substitute. After all, Voltaire taught us that: “Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said.” Let’s not create superhumans posthumously.