Murewa Rural District Council (Cemeteries) By-laws, 2026
Murewa Rural District Council sets burial fees at US$100 for an adult and US$50 for a child, rising to US$150 for non-Zimbabweans, plus US$200 to reserve a grave — payable in local currency at the interbank rate.
Murewa Rural District Council now has a written fee schedule and rule book for its cemeteries at Murewa and Macheke. Burying an adult costs US$100 on a normal day, US$120 at a weekend or on a public holiday, US$130 if the deceased was not resident in the council area, and US$150 if they were not Zimbabwean. Children's burials are half those figures: US$50, US$70, US$80 and US$100. Fees and fines are payable in local currency at the prevailing interbank rate.
Burial needs the council's written permission in advance, supported by a burial order (or, for ashes, a cremation certificate), and the council must have allotted a numbered grave. Burials run daily between 09:00 and 16:00; anything outside those hours costs double, except for infants under one year old, who are exempt from the extra charge.
A grave can be reserved for future use for US$200, renewable for a further five years at US$100, with a US$10 annual fee. Reservations lapse if unused after five years and cannot be transferred to someone else without council permission. The exclusive right of burial in a portion of a cemetery costs US$200.
Tombstones and other memorial work need prior written permission with a plan, cost US$20 to apply for and US$77 per square metre to erect, and are capped at 2.438m by 1.219m for an adult grave. The by-laws also fix grave dimensions and a minimum depth of 2.1 metres, allow at most two bodies per grave, and bar exhumation within two years of burial (US$200 to apply thereafter).
Penalties are set out separately: US$200 for an unauthorised burial, an unapproved exhumation, obstructing a council officer or building in a cemetery; US$50 for advertising, stone-dressing or planting a tree on a grave; US$10 to US$20 for unauthorised entry by person or vehicle.
What changed
- Adult burial fees fixed at US$100 normal, US$120 weekends and public holidays, US$130 non-residents, US$150 non-Zimbabweans
- Child burial fees fixed at US$50, US$70, US$80 and US$100 on the same basis
- Grave reservation costs US$200, renewal US$100, plus a US$10 annual fee, and lapses after five years if unused
- Burials restricted to 09:00–16:00 daily; outside those hours the fee doubles, except for infants under one
- Memorial works need written permission and a plan, cost US$20 to apply and US$77 per square metre
- Exhumation barred within two years of burial; application fee US$200 thereafter
- Fines from US$10 to US$200, payable in local currency at the interbank rate
Who this affects
- families burying relatives in Murewa or Macheke
- funeral parlours and undertakers operating in Murewa district
- monumental masons and tombstone installers
- non-resident and diaspora families repatriating a body to Murewa
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.