Burial societies are local indigenous organisations which provide mutual help and assistance to members in the event of death and illness, and are an established feature of urban life in Zimbabwe. As such they are examples of self-reliance in practice, but despite this there has been very little in the way of concrete research in this area. This paper sets out to investigate the role that burial societies play in the lives of their members and is therefore concerned with the various functions that the societies' perform, the services that they offer, as well as establishing members' motivations for joining. The assumption is made that there are both 'manifest' and 'latent' needs on the part of the membership for which the societies cater. In addition to considering the relationship between society and member, the study also examines the preponderance and extent of use of the societies in the high density suburbs of Zimbabwe's capital city, Harare. Consideration is given to some of the organisational and structural aspects of the societies. Previous research into the societies is noted to provide background to this study and there is some speculation on the role the societies could perform in the future.
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