CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS OF SELECTED TEXTS
5.5 Synopsis of the drama, Kudela Owaziyo (Maphumulo, 2009)
5.5.1 Gender Inequalities
5.5.1.1 Gender inequalities in Mdaluli’s household
MaMlanduli is an ordinary uneducated Zulu woman that is still shackled by a patriarchal system. Elaine Showalter (1991:3) argues that “the late 19th century was
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a period of ‘sexual anarchy’, a period in which gender definitions were acutely threatened by a variety of social changes”. Robbins confirms the statement by Showalter that,
During this period the separate spheres of men and women were respectively the worlds of competitive work and domesticity. She further asserts that as an ideology it defined men as active and women as passive. Men worked outside the domestic sphere while women were confined to the home. This binary oppositions structured all social thinking about the relationships between the sexes (Robbins, 2000:221).
In the context of the drama under examination, all the changes in the system of government and the new democratic constitution have not changed anything in MaMlanduli’s life. She is still financially dependent on her husband. Hence after learning about her husband’s retrenchment from his job, she laments:
Wewu! Ezibuhlungu azipheli bakithi. Kazi sizoba yini lapha ekhaya ubaba wekhaya engasasebenzi. Ngaso impela-ke lesi sikhathi izindleko abhekene nazo kulo muzi, zithe bhe. Wo hhe! Ngiyazisa mina ntombi kaQholwane! Sife olwembiza ngempela-ke uma kunje (p30).
(Wow! Painful news never ceases to happen. I wonder what will become of us when the family head is unemployed. This happens at the time when this house is faced with a lot of financial responsibilities. Wow! What will become of me, Qholwane’s daughter? We are finished).
Such dependency of women was a norm in male- dominated societies. The wife was burdened with childbearing and rearing as well as the domestic chores. At times she was treated like a child herself. Hence MaMlanduli is correct when she refers to her husband’s retrenchment as doom for the entire family. In patriarchal societies, as attested to by Stratton (1994:25) “women are systematically excluded from the socio- political discourse of the community”. Stratton’s notion is supported by Tembo (2012:120) where he states that, “the girl, in patriarchal societies, is moulded to become a dutiful mother under her own mother’s training and uncompromising guidance. For all the girls raised in this type of cultural milieu, there is nothing in life except gaining experience in responsibilities of home. This pattern repeats itself when the mother faithfully and diligently transfers the same roles to her offspring”.
MaMlanduli cannot imagine what life would be without her husband’s income.
After losing his job, Mdaluli becomes a very bitter man and begins to be mean in the way he treats his wife. On one occasion, for example, when his wife kept repeating that supper was ready and that they were waiting for him he retorted:
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Kanti uzwa kanjani wena mfazi? Lisho ukuthini leli gama elithi angifuni?
Ngiziphoqe-ke manje ngidle yize noma isimo singangivumeli?
Wangifundekela kangaka nje wena? (p52).
(Woman, do you ever listen? What does the word ‘no’ mean to you? Must I force myself to eat even though I do not feel like it? Why are you pestering me?
The woman’s inferiority is evident in the above statement. It is worth noting that when things are good between a woman and a man amongst the Zulus, she is commonly referred to in Zulu as ‘mkami’ meaning ‘my wife’ or makaLondiwe meaning ‘mother of Londiwe’. However, as soon as there is disagreement then the wife ceases to be umkami and becomes umfazi. The observable trend in Zulu literature is that once a wife is called umfazi, what usually follows thereafter is wife- battering. Maphumulo follows the same trend in this drama. Shortly after calling her mfazi Mdaluli continues:
Nx! Aha demed man! Usulokhu ungicefezela into ebhekephi nje wena mfazi ngibe ngizilandulela lapha kuwe? Yini ngisole nje sengathi akusekhona ukuthi ufuna isizathu sokungakufuni ukudla kodwa usufuna inhliziyo yami wena? Uyazi ukuthini? Usuzoze uyithole –ke lento oyifunayo. Sengikubone kahle wena ukuthi uyayeshela le mpama yami, isizoze ikuqome-ke ngoba nakhu usolukhu uyinakashele (p53).
(Nx! Ag damn you! Why are you nagging me you woman because I have told you I do not want food. Why do I suspect that it is not about me not wanting food but that you actually inciting me? Do you know that you are going to get what you want? I have realised that you want me to slap you and I will if you continue irritating me).
Mdaluli beats his wife and their daughter, Londiwe tries in vain to stop her father from physically abusing her mother:
Hhayi! Hhayi! Kahle bo baba ngamawala. Pheza manje! Ayisile phela le nto oyenzayo. Wubudlova lobu. Wukuhlukumeza lokhu okwenzayo. Kwathi kuphunywe umkhankaso kazwelonke wokuqeda udlame lwasekhaya kodwa wena walokhu uqhubeka nokushaya umkakho? Uthi uyabona nje ukuthi uzidonsela amanzi ngomsele ngale nto oyenzayo? (p54)
(No father, no. Stop it now. What you are doing is out of order. This is abuse. What you are doing is offensive. Everyone is out there on a campaign against domestic violence and yet you continue beating up your wife? Are you aware that you are inviting trouble?)
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Mdaluli ignores her because she is a child and a female at that. Mdaluli slaps both of them. The author captures the scene vividly in the way he describes it:
Khona manjalo kuqhume impama esheshayo ngokulandelanisa eduze, ezihlathini zabo bobabili, abadukle ngesibhakela baze bawe babonakale sengathi babephelelwa umoya. Abakhahlele baze bawe bayothi fofolozi phansi (p54).
(Immediately thereafter followed a quick slap one after another on both their cheeks, then followed the fist punches and as they fell down it looked like they were choking. He also kicked them until they fell down).
Here a man is seen using his authority and masculinity over powerless women that he is supposed to love and protect. The woman is therefore in a losing situation;
when a man victimises her, it is justified because culture demands that the woman be subservient to the man. Chilala (2013:100) maintains that when a man yearns for the woman, he is not to be blamed because it is not his fault. It is a woman’s fault who has cast a spell on him; she is a witch. The relationship between the couple is strained due to Mdaluli’s physical abuse. The issue of gender inequalities between men and women is evident when Mdaluli tries to coerce his wife into having sex with him despite the prevailing circumstances. In spite of that Mdaluli demands his conjugal rights in this manner:
...Yini sengathi uyashesha ukukhohlwa nje wena mfazi ukuthi ngakulobola ngezinkomo ngazishaya zaphelela zonke esibayeni sikayihlo. Manje-ke usufuna ngikuncenge-ke ngiguqele ilungelo lami lasemshadweni elisemthethweni. Uthi awufikelwa umcabango wokuthi ngakulobola ngothi lukamentshisi nje wena? (p60).
(...Why does it look like you have a short memory woman, you forget that I paid all the ilobolo cows to your father. Now you want me to kneel down begging for my legitimate marital rights. Don’t you think I paid match sticks as ilobolo for you?)
Ilobolo has dominated Zulu literature for decades. There has been an ongoing debate amongst scholars on its significance and relevance. It has further divided the Zulu nation into two groups; those in favour of retaining this custom and those who feel that it leads to exploitation and the objectification of women. Other than the abovementioned factors ilobolo further promotes inferiority in women who sometimes believe their husbands are not wrong in the manner they treat them because they
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were paid for asserts Gama (2004:112). For some men it totally changes the relationship itself because the partners immediately become unequal.
Children in traditional Zulu societies were expected to respect their parents. The 21st century play presents Mdaluli as if he lived in the times gone by. Nowadays, while children are still expected to respect their parents they also may share their views with their parents in an open family platform. In the drama Londiwe calls in the police with the aim of protecting her mother from being beaten up. Mdaluli interprets his daughter’s action as that of a daughter who lacks respect. This is why he says:
Izinkunzi ezimbili zingehlale esibayeni sinye...Mina nendodakazi yami uLondiwe sibanga ubukhulu kulomuzi, kusobala-ke ukuthi sonke sesingomakhonya izinkunzi ezimalundalunda. Sekumele kucace-ke manje!
(p80).
(Two bulls cannot stay in one kraal...My daughter, Londiwe and I are fighting over authority in this house. It is clear that we are now both in control, the two big bulls. Now is the time for things to be clearer!)
Manhood is equal to power. According to the Zulu culture the man had absolute power and authority over everything in his house that includes wife, children, cattle, goats, farming land and the house itself. This kind of ownership was moderated by the Constitution of South Africa that guarantees rights for women and children. In spite of all these changes Mdaluli still sees himself as the ’bull’ of the home that should be placed on a pedestal no matter what he does to his family.