2.2 Ntumbuluko - the traditionalist perspective
2.2.1 Profile of Mr. Chilombani Josayi Ndzukule and his description of ntumbuluko
apprehension of the Christian faith, as reflected in some aspects of their Christian daily living, ethos and doctrine. This brings us back to the basic question in this thesis - the relationship between ntumbuluko and the gospel.
education but reads in the vernacular.
My first question to him was "What is ntumbulukoT\ His answer was:
Aka hloko ya kona ya mhaka ya ku a ntumbuluko ixini, a ka side ya mina, loko nivile kolaha misaveni, ...a ntumbuluko hi xona a xilo xinga xi nkulu ka swilo hikwaswo hansi ka misava, a ka munhu; mani na mani, na mani. Hita hi laha loko nitaku a ntumbuluko ixilo xa xinkulu laha misaveni. Nito loko ni sungula ku tlhariha mina ku sukela hi 1951, ku ta fika namutlha leswi yinga 2001, ni swi vona kahlc aku lava vanga landzela ntumbuluko va na wu tomi. Hiku ntumbuluko wu rwele swa yila, wu rwele kufa, wu rwele ku hanya a ntumbuluko. Wu rwele a muti wa mina lowu ni hanyaka na wona [nsati wa le Joni], kumbe mamani loyi ninga teka (nsati wa tiyiso), kumbe n'wana wa mina intumbuluko. A ntumbuluko ilithangu leli li biyaka muti.
Loko n'wananga o huma a naweni wa ntumbuluko, a xikona anga ta xi endla, a nsati wa mina loko a huma naweni wa ntumbuluko axikona anga ta xi endla, kumbe hi mina nuna wa kona ni tsika leswi venge te, Xidindi, leswi se unga wa hombe, hanya hi ntumbuluko, u tchava swa yila; itlhata ya kona ya ntumbuluko leyo. Swa yila a suka ka ntumbuluko.
Ntumbuluko wa fana na xidyoho xa mavelekelo, hi tivaka leswaku loku u kula u fanele ku teka. Xidyoho lexo anina nandzu ka xona loko ni teka a nsati wa kona.
Kambe loko ni gangisa a nhanyana nje ni etlela na yena mu vona hi nyimba a ni onhi? Ni humile a naweni wa ntumbuluko. Ni tsikile ntumbuluko, a ni tchavanga swa yila, ni dilizile a muthangala wa wu tomi la mina hikwalo, wa family ya mina ya ka Ndzukule. A va nga ta rivala na vana va mina aku vaku, kokwani wa wena waha tsamile a endla swo kari. Hiku swa yini, swa ntumbuluko...unga fa, a swi heli a ka nyimba leyi ya n'wina. Ntumbuluko inawu lowu wu kulaka hi wona laha kaya. U nga dyi lexi xa yila.. .ani va vutisi why hinga tsiveli a tsondzo laha kaya? Hiku, i ntumbuluko waka Ndzukule, kumbe wa tiko legi ninga aka ka lona.
Leswi aswi lavi hi swi sola, hiku swi tira aka ka Xitlhangu, no, hi ku ni yakilc laha tikweni laka Xitlhangu; kula kuza ni endla leswi. Va swi kuma kwihi? I ntumbuluko wa Xipalo, hikusa, a muti wakwe lowu, akuza u nga hlakalangi, ku ni ntumbuluko lowu anga hanya hi wona. Lowu anga wu nyikiwa tolo va n'wani va wu papalatile, se Xikwembu xi va khatisa.
Loko a wu ngahi ntumbuluko, hi 1957 inge ni xurisile a va nhanyana hambi va nharu, va nga ta a mabangeni. Se kambi mamani a vulile aku hinga xurisi nyimba na hinga lovolangi (bava a ari xibalweni) - aku, lowu i ntumbuluko wa hina vaka Ndzukule, loko wo ala sweswo, uta fa! [Uta fa] wa hi xitsananani. Hiku land/a a ntumbuluko, a vaku u ta pswa wena mufana ndziwena, u nga huhi na va nhanyana. Hi ntumbuluko ku laveka u hi na 21 year, u thomba; loko se u thombile, u sungula a pfuka waka 25 years, hi kona vaku vonaka aku a mufana luyani a kulile. Loko a nhanyana a veleka a hi na 15 years anga na ndlela ya ku huma n'wana.
(Ndzukule 2001, interview)
Translation:
The crux of the matter, from my point of view, on what ntumbuluko is, and my experience since I existed in the world, is that...ntumbuluko is the greatest thing, above everything on earth for humans, to everyone who ever exists. This is what I mean when I say that ntumbuluko is the greatest thing on earth. When I started to be wise [growing] from 1951 to this day 2001, I see clearly that those who followed
ntumbuluko have life; because ntumbuluko has swa yila (prohibitory laws), ntumbuluko carries death and carries life. Ntumbuluko upholds my family that lives with me, the woman I married and my child's family. Ntumbuluko is a fence around a home. If my child [son] gets out (sic) of ntumbuluko law, there is nothing he will do; if my wife gets out of ntumbuluko law, she will do nothing, or if it is me the husband who abandons what they said: 'Xidindi [his nickname], now that you are an adult, live by ntumbuluko, be fearful of swa yila'; this is the young brother of ntumbuluko, swa yila comes from ntumbuluko.
Ntumbuluko is like birth sin (sic) (i.e. original sin), we know that if one grows one must marry. That sin I am not guilty32 of if I have married a wife. But if I propose to a girl and I sleep with and impregnate her am I not sinning? I have gone out of ntumbuluko law. I have abandoned ntumbuluko, I did not fear swa yila, I demolished the wall/fence of all my life, of all my family and Ndzukule clan. My children will not forget relating the story to my grandchildren. Why? Because ntumbuluko has been broken, even after one's death the clan will bear the disgrace. Ntumbuluko is the law that one is instructed in as one grows in each household. 'Do not eat this xa yila...' I do not ask them why we should not use tsondzo tree (firewood) in our home because this is the Ndzukule family ntumbuluko, or ntumbuluko of the land in which I settled.
We must not play these things down, saying: 'this is only relevant to the Chitlangos'.
No; I have settled in the Chitlangoland and I must do all that. Where does this come from? It is the ntumbuluko of Xipalo. For his family or clan not to be worn out (to become extinct), there is an ntumbuluko that he abided by and lived by. This ntumbuluko was given to him yesterday [immemorial past or the beginning of time], ntumbuluko which others have wasted away or wandered away from, and God punished them.
If it were not for ntumbuluko, in 1957 I could even have made pregnant three girls who used to come to the palm wine camps. But mother said we should not make anyone pregnant before paying lovolo (father was in xibalweni [colonial forced labour]). She said that was the Ndzukule clan ntumbuluko and that if I refuse to listen, I will die prematurely [the informant was very emphatic on this]. According to ntumbuluko they said, 'you will burn33, young man, do not have fun with girls'.
According to ntumbuluko one must be 21 years old to mature. After maturing, around 25 years old, that is when they consider a boy to be grown...
32 My informant considers sex as a sin, but a sin that is the duty of humans. No one is to be excused from it. If one marries properly one is not guilty of that sin of sex. From this belief he then equates ntumbuluko to the sin of sex to imply that whenever one does something for or of ntu or in obedience to it, though the act might appear sinful, he/she is not committing a sin. He is just fulfilling the human duty (which is natural or divinely created and ordained as sex and marriage). Sin is to be re-defined as what contradicts ntumbuluko and if the Bible disagrees that becomes the departure for the Tsongas for they never think they sin when obeying ntu and never feel guilty and ashamed of whatever they do in obedience to ntumbuluko.
33 Ndzukule believes that ku pswa or ku gomiwa, which I translated as "burning", is what, according to him, Whites call HIV/AIDS because of ignorance. He stated categorically that diviners can cure AIDS.
He then said that Nkosi Johnson could have been cured in three weeks if the Whites had not refused the request of the Zulus and Shangaans for them to be given the boy for treatment for three weeks.
When I asked him what constitutes ntumbuluko, this is what he said:
A ntumbuluko u akiwa hi nawu lowu u nga vekiwa le ka vanhu. Loko Xikwembu xi endlile a munhu, xi mu nyikile a muganga, [n]a ma tsamele ya kwe, ku nga ku mu nyika a mungana wo tsama naye; kwala ka mungana yaloyi, se xi mu vekela nawu lowu a faneleke ku hanya hi wona. Laha ka nawu lowu, hi kona ku nga na gula la kona, la ku, loyi a to phazama a ntumbuluko lowu ni nga ku nyika ni ku tsama u endlisa leswi, u endla leswi; kambi leswi u nga swi tchitchi, loko wo tchitcha leswi u onhile. Lelo irito linga vula leswo; hi yena matchingelani wa kona a gadileke ntumbuluko. A ku na munhu a ku gadileke. Vaku nyika rito u tsama na lona wena, ulihlayisawena....
A ntumbuluko imbita ya kona. A nawu wa wu tomi la munhu hi kwalo wunga yaka kona; a ntumbuluko ifawundexeni, ifawundexeni ya yindlu. A nawu wu n'wani ni wu n'wani wuta a hehla ka fawundexeni leyi. A xitina xin'wani ni xin'wani xi vekiwa a hehla ka fawundexeni leyi. Hi xona a ribye la kona la ku tiya hikuva, xona xi khomile xi hi xoxe. A mutini wa n'wina xi khomile, a mutini wa mina xi khomile, a mutini wa mun'wani xi khomile. Se hikona ku to huma mu nawu hikwayo leyi na yi huma laha ka fawundexeni leyi - yinga ntumbuluko.
(Ndzukule 2001, interview)
Translation:
Ntumbuluko is built by the law given to people. When God made humans, he gave the human a friend, with her moods and ways of living; this was a friend to stay with.
With this friend, God gave the man the law34 to live by. In this law, it is where the calabash is: 'the one who will make a mistake against ntumbuluko that I gave to you, saying always do this and that this way and that this must never be changed. If you change this you have done wrong/sinned.' The word which said that is the police35 that guard the observance of ntumbuluko. There is no one who will police you, they give you the word and the word stays with you and you keep the word...
...Ntumbuluko is the pot. It is the law in which the whole of human life exists.
Ntumbuluko is the foundation. It is like the foundation of a house or building. Any, each and every law is based on this foundation. As in building, each brick is laid on this foundation. Ntumbuluko is the firm rock or cornerstone because it holds everything together. Can you lay bricks without a foundation? When the rain comes the building will fall down. In your home ntumbuluko is upholding, in my home it is upholding; ntumbuluko upholds all homes or families. Then, all the laws proceed from this foundation. This foundation is ntumbuluko.
34 Ntumbuluko is the law given to humans. This law is given because of the impurity of the woman so it regulates man's relationship with her in a protective manner for the man to remain pure, healthy and enjoy longevity.
15 This is the very key to ntumbuluko. No one will police you, only the word they gave to you. But if you think no one sees and violates ntumbuluko, it catches you. The punishment is immediate and that is why they respect it more than anything else.
When I asked him about what is done at a funeral according to ntumbuluko, he started by indicating that each area has its variation of ntumbuluko. But he said that no one is buried before ntumbuluko of that area or territory has been followed. He then said that, by following ntumbuluko, the ancients caused rain to fall (he was very emphatic and repetitive about this). He argued that those who followed ntumbuluko carefully could make rain.
I also asked Ndzukule on many aspects of ntumbuluko in different life events and life activities. His descriptions of various applications of ntumbuluko in life will be reflected on later.
Ndzukule said that ntumbuluko is the biggest of all things on earth to every individual person. He also said that his experience from 1951, when he turned adult enough to observe, leads him to conclude that those who follow ntumbuluko have life. Because ntumbuluko carries swa yila; ntumbuluko carries death; ntumbuluko carries life (Ndzukule 2001, interview). To emphasize his point, he then said that if anyone abandons ntumbuluko, laws could do nothing. An adult must live by ntumbuluko and observe swiyila, which is next in importance after ntumbuluko.
To summarise Ndzukule's perception of ntumbuluko, it is perceived as the pot, foundation, and the rock or cornerstone. The function of ntumbuluko is to give and preserve life; upholding everything (especially families) and it makes possible human survival, continuity and progress.
The idea of foundation and cornerstone or rock seems to come from my informant's modern constructions as well as the influence of biblical imagery rather than Tsonga tradition itself. But the idea of mbita36 (pot) is genuinely Tsonga. It is from the pot that we cook our food. From the pot, food comes forth and nourishes a family. We can consider mbita to be a symbol of life. To say that ntumbuluko is mbita is to say that ntumbuluko is life. Ndzukule said that those who obey ntumbuluko have life.
Mbita - Mbita metaphor can lead us to other dimensions that will be more important later on. This dimension is what I call the mystery of mbita yofunengetiwa (the covered pot) or simply that mbita ayi vonekeli (pot is not transparent). This mystery misled Westerners like Da Silveira to conclude that Africans were tabula rasa (Bau 1994).
Later on, we will come back to this idea of ntumbuluko as life, life-giver and life- protector. Two of my informants make this point clear.
Ndzukule also sees ntumbuluko as originating for the purpose of protecting people from the deadly effects of women's impurity. The majority of dangerous diseases like leprosy, hernia, tuberculosis, vomiting blood which is followed by immediate death and others, are blamed on women's improper handling of their impurity37 according to