2.7 Analytical summary of the informants' definitions, views and descriptions of
ntumbuluko as a cultural identity of the Tsongas (the way of doing things, dressing, eating etc.) and also ntumbuluko was described as an individual or family genetic characteristic. Mundlovo used the term "invisible power" to define ntumbuluko when answering a question on the influence of ntumbuluko in the public life of Mozambique. He told the story of the kanyi tree in Magude and concluded that there was an invisible power that needed to be discovered.
It is important to note that it is on this point of power that ntumbuluko survives and dominates. Khosa identified this invisible power with the ancestors, or at least that it manifests itself through them. This indicates that the invisible power called ntumbuluko may be independent of the ancestors, only manifesting itself through the ancestors. For Mundlovo the invisible power or ntumbuluko manifested in his hometown, not through the ancestors, but through a tree, a kanyi tree. Could it be that the names of the ancestors are just being used to give an identity to ntumbuluko invisible power(s) without their knowledge and participation, as in the case of the kanyi tree of Magude? In any event, the issue of invisible power as the definition of ntumbuluko is very important for this study. It is for this reason that the government policy on ntumbuluko, which initially identified it with superstition and a backward mentality, failed because their method of combating it did not deal with the invisible power(s). They hoped to wipe out ntumbuluko through education as indicated in the Independence declaration:
The schools must be fronts in our vigorous and conscious battle against illiteracy, ignorance and obscurantism. They must be centres for wiping the colonial-capitalist mentality and the negative aspects of the traditional mentality: superstition, individualism, selfishness, elitism and ambition must be fought in diem. There should be no place in them for social, racial or sexual discrimination. Above all, the masses must have both access to and power in the schools, universities and culture.
We are engaged in a Revolution whose advance depends on the creation of the new man, with a new mentality.
(Henriksen 1978:260)
Needless to say, the government failed in its intellectual and scientific Marxist socialist battle against ntumbuluko. The solder who tampered with ntumbuluko by
shooting the kanyi tree died. Now the same government is the preacher of ntumbuluko. It is on this issue of power that academics, and even Christians, fall prey to ntumbuluko.
The artists perceived perceive ntumbuluko as:
1) the creation
2) everything (whole of creation and cosmos) 3) creating power
4) natural order of things 5) natural course of life 6) tradition
7) mindset 8) nature
9) social norms and practices
10) nation-building good practices and mindset 11) attitude and mindset that dignifies women
These perceptions are similar to the dictionary definition of ntumbuluko. Each of the three songs gives different sets of meaning to ntumbuluko. This, again, indicates how complex and ambiguous ntumbuluko can be; in each category there are different ways of perceiving, interpreting and using of the some word. To conclude let us say that ntumbuluko is perceived as:
1) beautiful
2) life pre-determiner and
3) custom which can be either good or bad.
We must, now, consider the third group's answer to the question of ntumbuluko. The Christian practitioners defined ntumbuluko as:
1) darkness 2) sin 3) customs 4) culture 5) the law 6) creation
7) origin
8) life in the beginning
9) human guidance in the beginning 10) the beginning
11) the mark of humanity as creation or creatures 12) the cosmic harmony
13) life-giver 14) life care-taker 15) life cycle rituals 16) life events and
17) life activity rituals, etc.
Ntumbuluko was described as something that does all the evil things, with immoral and satanic inspired laws and rituals. These rituals are increasing as the aftermath of Mutchapi and the impact of cultic churches that are growing among the Tsongas.
However, others described ntumbuluko as good and as life. Most of the informants of this category chose some rituals, especially those in which the most feared destructive effect of the invisible power of ntumbuluko is averted, and recommended them to preserve life. Some of these rituals are the ntumbuluko menstrual laws and the sex ban after death and before ritual sex called ku hlamba tindzaka.
Maybe it is important to note the importance of some of the issues the academics and the Christian practitioners point out in their account of ntumbuluko. For instance, ntumbuluko as an invisible power that we must discover is an important issue that needs attention from Christian theologians and missiologists if Christian faith is to have a future among the Tsongas. In the processes of researching ntumbuluko one needs to take into account:
1) the invisible power(s) that are operative therein 2) the impact of Mutchapi
3) the impact of the cultic churches among the Tsonga people 4) the impact of the Mutchapi notion of kupfuka (resurrection) and 5) slavery or the spirit's wives girls practice among the Tsonga people.
These issues can only be addressed with and by the "Invisible Power" of God. The spiritual oppression of taking girls as tihloko or vanyakwave (slave girls as wives of spirits) is one of the most brutally destructive effects of ntumbuluko and Mutchapi among the Tsonga, which causes an outcry. In Ndau there is a song which goes:
Nguruve, nguruve, nguruve; (one person) Spirits!, spirits!, spirits!;
He, nguruve; (all the others) (x2) Oh!, spirits!;
A ndi zi koni ku bara mwana ndi pe nguruve(one) I can't bear a child to give spirits. <
He, nguruve. (all the others) Oh!, spirits.
This is a people's outcry that we do well to listen to. Most girls grow up in fear of being given away as slaves by their families. This practice is now more intense than ever. People feel helpless because it is an issue of the invisible power of ntumbuluko against which they have no response.
There are many questions that informants ask which we will only list but not attempt to answer here, since we are still concerned with description. Some of the questions are as follows:
(1) what interaction should take place between ntumbuluko and Christian faith?
(2) if ntumbuluko is defined as life-giver, life-protector, life care-taker, and as life itself; where does such a powerful concept put the gospel?
(3) can these two powerful concepts or invisible powers (ntumbuluko as an invisible power and the gospel as the power of God) peacefully share a place in the depths of the consciousness of a Tsonga Christian?
(4) if ntumbuluko is life-giver, life-protector and life care-taker, while Christ has the same attributes, who is doing what?
Each of these questions can be a research question on its own; therefore, we will not try to answer them separately but within the context of ntumbuluko and the gospel relational questions. These questions come down to the question of the relationship between ntumbuluko and the gospel, which must be directed to the Christian practitioner's category. The academic category was more concerned with the relationship between ntumbuluko and society. When asked about the church, they indicated there were some problems, but they did not show much interest. One of the informants in the academic category complained about the dominance of ntumbuluko
in the public life of Mozambican society. The other simply answered by saying there is an invisible power there to explain the reason for ntumbuluko domination of public life in the country.
But turning to the eight Christian practitioners, with the exception of one the category was unhappy about ntumbuluko and the Christian faith as practiced by many Christians. Ntumbuluko is seen as being dominant in this interaction and the gospel as being subservient. Although our informants were from only three denominations, most of them were senior pastors who had been working in their denominations and interacting with the leaders of other Protestant denominations for many years.
Because of the extensive knowledge of the informants, and the fact that all denominations recruit their converts from the same Tsonga stock, we can conclude that the relational problems indicated by all the informants are a generalized problem of Tsonga Christianity in Mozambique. The present interaction between Ntumbuluko and the gospel is unacceptable, according to the informants, as it undermines Christian faith. They recommend that:
1) research be done
2) discipleship be revised and reinforced or reintroduced
3) church leaders' training, with the aid of the research findings, be introduced as a way of changing the present relationship between ntumbuluko and the gospel.
Finally we must sum up the Bible translators' perceptions and definitions. According to the Bible translators ntumbuluko is:
1) nature or naturalness 2) humanity or human nature 3) origin of things
4) the originator of everything that exists 5) pre-existence
6) the originator of things 7) the beginning
8) double-edged sword
9) explanation and interpretation of reality 10) ethos or ethical basis
11) centre of gravity of life
12) cultural and social custom and 13) life-and health-promoting power.
Most of these definitions are a repetition of what other categories have also said, but there are nuances of meanings that only come in this category. Numbers eight to eleven are a unique perception of ntumbuluko from this category. Ntumbuluko as
"explanation" and "interpretation" of reality (Ngomane 2003, interview) comes closer to Horton's (1993) theory (explanation, interpretation and control of reality) that we use to interpret ntumbuluko in chapter three. Together with the interpretation of ntumbuluko as ethos or ethical foundation and centre of gravity of Tsonga life, explains why ntumbuluko is pivotal in everything in Tsonga life. Any disregard of ntumbuluko is an aberration against ethical fabric and a serious affront to the centre of gravity of life. This suggests that whenever the gospel is understood to instigate such an attitude towards ntumbuluko, it is seriously countered.
This findings of the fieldwork proves my assumptions and makes the research question (i.e. what should the interaction between ntumbuluko and the Christian faith be?) an appropriate and timely missiological and theological issue. However, before dealing with the research question we have some steps to take. We need to find out how deep ntumbuluko has permeated Tsonga consciousness, and to assess the impact of ntumbuluko in the Tsonga apprehension of the Christian faith. After that, we will try to understand or interpret the definitions of ntumbuluko, using multidisciplinary approaches. After that, we will review the debate on the gospel and culture, and finally will attempt to suggest an answer to the research question.