2.5 Ntumbuluko - the Christian practitioner's perspective
2.5.1 Igreja Uniao Baptista de Mozambique
2.5.1.1 The profile of Rev. Salvador Matsombe and his description of ntumbuluko
Rev. Matsombe is 77 years old and was born in Chibuto, Gaza Province. He was also involved in the translation project of the Tsonga Bible {Mahungu la Manene).
Although he was not one of the recommended persons from the Bible Society in Maputo, his name appears in the list of the Mozambican members of the translation and editorial committee in the archives of the United Bible Society in Cape Town. He was one of those, in Mozambique, who were consulted now and then by the translators and editors of the project.
My first question to Rev. Matsombe was on translation. I reminded him that in Rom 8:6,13 sarx in the old Tsonga Bible was translated "nyama" (flesh), but that in the Mahungu la Manene Tsonga Bible it was translated as ntumbuluko. I wanted to know why that change was made, and what kind of discussions they had in order to make that change. He explains:
Hiswona, anitsembi leswaku nita ku hlwelisa aka mhaka leyi. Lexi xinga ve kona ku, hivonile leswaku a nyama hi leswi hi Xiputukezi hinge i sentido figurado. A nyama swalava ku fana na loko hi vulavula hi munyama. Swilo leswi swilavaka a
tlhamuselo aka Xikreste. A munyama a hi wusiku. Amunyama wu vula laha a Ivangeli yikalaka yinga se ngena. Loko hiku a munhu loyi a le munyameni, hivula aku ange se amukela a Ivangeli. Kutani a nyama aku vuliwi a nyama leyi [akhomile a nyama ya yena]. A nyama kuvuliwa a swihena leswi nga ve kona ka lixaka lihi na lihi, kumbe a ntumbuluko wa vanhu vahi na vahi. Ali hlovo lihi na lihi lini ntumbuluko wa lona wa munyama. Kutani, a ntumbuluko u lava a livoni, kungahi a dyambu, kambe a livoni leli linga rito la Xikwembu. A rito la Xikwembu li voninga a ka ntumbuluko se a vanhu va suka a ka ntumbuluko va landza a rito. Kambe va n'wani va teka a ku vonakala va ku patsa na ntumbuluko va famba naswo hi wumbirhi la swona. Ninga vula leswaku, a ntumbuluko. A hi wu khongeli, a ntumbuluko wu maha hikwaswo le swo biha. A ntumbuluko wuni nawu wa wona, lowu wu vulaka aku aswokarhi aswi mahise ku karhi. Kunge hilomu sul (dzongeni), wa sw in va, loko a mulumuzana a file, asiya a nkosikazi yak we. ixini xi humelelaka.
A mamana luya a feliweke, a fane le aku a sindzisiwa aku a veka a mavoko a ndzaku loko a famba a ndleleni. Loko a tlhangana na munhu, ku laveka a tsama a hansi, i ntumbuluko lowo, i nawu wa ntumbuluko, mu nyama lowu wu kalaka wungarhi na ku vonakala. A ntumbuluko wona hi woxe wu lava a livoni. Lomu ka Yohane hikuma aku, Yesus a tisile a tintswalo na ntiyiso. Swilo swimbirhi. Tintswalo, hikuva swa karata aku susa a vanhu vanga ka ntumbuluko aku vata aka Ivangeli.
(Matsombe 2001, interview)
Translation:
...We made our decisions based on the fact that nyama (flesh) is what we call 'figured sense' in Portuguese. Nyama is like when we speak of 'darkness'. Such terms require explanation or interpretation in Christian use. 'Darkness' is not 'night', but is wherever the gospel has not yet penetrated. If we say this person is in the darkness, we mean that the person hasn't yet received the gospel. In like manner nyama (flesh) does not mean this [here he touched his own flesh]. Nyama means customs that exist in any human society, or ntumbuluko of each and all human people. Any race has its ntumbuluko of darkness. Therefore, ntumbuluko needs the light, not the sun but the light, which is the word of God. The word of God shines upon/illuminates ntumbuluko and then the people move from ntumbuluko and follow the word. But some people take the light and mix it up with ntumbuluko and go along with them both. I can say that ntumbuluko is not religion; ntumbuluko does all the evil things. Ntumbuluko has its law which regulates how everything must be done. Like here in the south, you know what happens when the mulumuzana (male family head) dies, leaving his nkosikazi (female family head, lit. female king). The widow is obliged to walk with her arms behind her. If she meets someone along the way, she must sit down; this is ntumbuluko, it needs light. In John we read that Jesus brought grace and truth. Two things. Grace, because it is hard to move people who are in ntumbuluko to come to the gospel.
In his explanation of the choice of the term ntumbuluko rather than nyama to translate sarx, he then pointed to some ntumbuluko laws of widowhood. I asked him to elaborate more on the widowhood laws of ntumbuluko. Then he said: 'A widow is required to mourn for the duration given to her by the female elders. During this mourning period she stays inside the house with other ladies who take care of her or rather who torture her'. I asked him to explain why he called the ritual 'torture;' he
started by laughing (probably expressing his dislike of the widowhood ritual) and then explained:
Hahahaaaa....(kuhleka). Hakanyingi, leswi niswitweke na leswi niswi voneke, nivona kuhi ku xanisa. Hikusa, kuhumelela yini xana, a fanele a ku ve mamana loyi, a phindzela a kwelisiwa hehla, aya susa a byanyi leli vali lavaka a xitchungweni, leli anga ta tsama nalona, a etlela ka lona. Niswin'wana kambe swo nonoha va mahaka ka Iowa mamana swaku muxanisa. Loko swi hunza leswo, ata tsama a xipimo xa lembe, kumbe mambirhi [se a tekiwa]. Kambe aku tekiwa loko, a a phakiwa laha mutini. Amulumuzana a a vitana a majaha yakwe kumbe a va makwavo va mufi, a ta ku ya: wena muokazana, a nuna a fambile, hivalava a vamakwavo va mufi. Se lo wa mamani a pambula mun'we loyi a mu lavaka ka vona. Loko ku Ilka a karhi waku tchinga, he! A timhaka tinyingi laha ku tchingeni laha. Laha ku tchingeni, loyi a tchingaka, a fanele ku tchinga hiku etlela na mamani loyi. Se vata tchingavo van'wani, kala swi fika ka mulumuzana hi hierarkia la muti loko loyi a tchingaka a phindile lawu mbirbi.
Xin'wani ninga vulaka, hileswi swi mahekaka masiku lawa. Loko munhu a file, a vanhu vaya mahleni hiku landza a munyama. Nivula leswo ha yini, hiku, a ka masiku ndzaku, a kufeni ka va tata va hina a hi swivonanga leswo. Namutlha kuna leswaku loko a mulumuzana a file va mu landza a simitela va ta mu ngenisa a ndwini.
Va suka, na byala va fika a sireni va tchela a byala lelo va vulavula leswi vanga ta vulavula swona. Va maha leswo vahi na xinguvuana xo basa, lexi va nga ta nyika a xin'wanana xikokovisa a nguvu liya, van'wani vali karhi va tchela a byala ati kaya.
Se kun'wana ikule, ava koti ku famba himilenge. Va lugara a mova, se vaya fika va mahetela hikwaswo, va tchela a byala, se vateka a tchigumana lexiya venge hikona anga kona a mulumuzana kumbe mamana lwiya, va bohelela seno ndzaku ka mova vakokovisa. Hambi a xicravatura, a vanhu a vakokiwa himahatchi. Kambe a ongo la hina ali tirhi. Hi ehleketa leswaku hipfuna ava tatana va hina hikuva boha hikoka himumova!
(Matsombe 2001, interview)
Translation:
Hahahaaaa [laugh]. Most of what I have seen and heard is torture. Do you know what happens? The widow puts her cloth like a baby's diaper and climbs to the top of the house to remove the grass which die rituals' experts need, the xitchungwa grass [the grass that covers the spike on top of a typical Tsonga house]. She will sit and sleep on that grass. There are other hard things that they do which are "torture" for the widow. After all rituals she will stay for a year or two. Then she is married to anyone in the family. The father-in-law calls his sons, the brothers of the deceased, and says: 'yes my daughter-in-law, your husband is gone; here are the brothers of the deceased'. The widow then chooses the one she wants for husband. When the time comes for ritual sex of cleansing, or reeds off (ku tchinga), yea, there are many things in this process. In the ku tchinga process, the one who is going to inherit her, he must do ku tchinga by "lying" [sexual intercourse] with this woman. After him, the other brothers will also do kutchinga ritual sex according to their family hierarchy. After all the brothers have lain with her, the one inheriting her "lies" with her the second time and after this intercourse, she then has to lie with the mulumuzana (father-in- law).
The other thing that I can say is about something new that is happening these days.
When someone is dead, people further follow the darkness. Why am I saying that? I am saying that because in the past, in the time of the death of our fathers, we did not see these things. Today there is this practice that when a family head dies, they go to
bring him from the cemetery back into his house51. They go to the cemetery with traditional beer and they pour it upon the grave, then speak whatever they want to say. They bring with them a small piece of white cloth, which they give a child to drag, while others pour libation continuously until they reach home52. Some burial places are far and they cannot walk on foot. They hire a car [truck] and go to the grave and do everything. They pour libation and take that piece of cloth which they believe has mulumuzana, or that lady on it, and tie it at the back of the car and drag it.
Even in slavery, people were dragged by horses. But our brain does not reason. We think we are helping our parents by tying and dragging them with cars!
After Rev. Matsombe's explanation of what led him to conclude that the widow care- takers are actually widow-torturers, he gave the full story of the ritual sex and remarriage of the widow, called ku tchinga ndzaka. He also included a story of what he said to be a new development, the bringing home of the dead. The story is the continuing effect of Mutchapi among the Tsongas. But, before discussing with him about the issue of Mutchapi, I wanted to know whether he knew Christians who do what he had just described. His answer was:
Hahahaaaa...(kuhleka). Swahumelela ka. Kambe va maha hiku swi tibia, loko hitsamile hisungula a ku switwa aku swi endlekile. Ninga wula a exemplo, wu kona a niu11 wokarhi, ixaka munhu loyi, imakweru loyi a lovileke na santi wakwe, kuyo sala a \ ana. Se, vaku aku kambiwe ati mhaka, vavulaka a kuya ba tihlolo. A tihlolo tiya ta vula leswaku mahani leswi, mahani leswi. Se hileswo swi mahekaka aka va Kreste lava \ aha hanyaka aka ntumbuluko, vakalaka vanga wu tsikangi. Kasi ke lava vanga wu tsika, vo tsundzuka kunene a vafi hi ku byela a matimu a vana va vona na va ntukulu.
Kambe lava vanga munyameni, va ha famba aka tihlolo. Va vutisela. A tatana wakwa a maha hiku heleketiwa akaya. Aku khohlwa hayini ke? A tave maluko. A
51 As indicated, this practice of bringing the dead home is a new practice among the Tsongas. Pastor Matsombe and other informants attribute it to the impact of Mutchapi upon Tsonga culture after the 1930s. There was no kupfuka notion, which is the basic theory behind this practice. But in my opinion, this practice is not just an impact of mutchapi upon Tsonga culture, but also a cultural reaction against the Portuguese colonial policy regarding death and burial. According to Khosa, Tsonga people buried their dead in their homes and this strengthened their belief in the continuous presence of their ancestors, which is believed to be of vital importance for the survival and prosperity of the living part of the family. But the Portuguese found this culture of living with graves in the courtyard a repulsive one and they introduced the cemetery and prohibited the burying of the dead in homes. The people felt deprived of the benefits of staying with one's ancestors and were forced to relegate their ancestors to cemeteries [?]. To defeat this system they developed another way of bringing their ancestors home in a way that the Portuguese could not understand, so that the mortal remains could be in the cemetery to please the Portuguese colonists, but the ancestor was brought home to fulfil one's ntumbuluko duty.
This way, the Portuguese could do nothing, for the return was spiritual.
The procession of bringing the ancestor home, as described by the informant, is similar to the Akuapem Odwira - Adaebutuw Festival in Akropong, Ghana as described by Nana Addo Birikorang, the Apesemakahene, and witnessed by the author.
Matsalwa mavula leswaku a munhu loko a timeka, a Xikwembu xi teka a moya wayena. Xiteka a munhu, hina hisala hiya lahla a tsumbu, kambe a munhu angahari kona. Se himani loyi vayaka vaya teka esireni?
(Matsombe 2001, interview)
Translation:
Hahahaaaa.... [laugh]. Of course. But they hide when they do it, but later on we hear that they did it. I can give an example of a certain family, a relative of mine. In fact it is my brother and his wife who died and are survived by their children. They said to each other: 'let us consult diviners to hear about family matters'. The bones- « casting told them to do this and that. That is what is happening among the Christians who live in ntumbuluko, who haven't left ntumbuluko. But those who have abandoned ntumbuluko, they remember the dead by telling their stories to their children and grandchildren. But those who are in the darkness, they go to divination.
They consult by divination and his father needs to be brought home. Why does he not know his own home? Is he insane? The Scriptures says that when a person departs, God takes his spirit. God takes the person and we bury the corpse, the person is no more! Then, who are they going to bring home from the grave?
After he told me this I asked him "What shall we do?" He said: ... "Do not be hasty.
Teach the people. When you come back and you are given a branch (parish)..., do not go only to serve Holy Communion, learn about issues of that area and go to them with teaching that will help them":
Se uva komba, ahi sukeni laha, laha ku bihile laha hi mhaka leyi na leyi na ley i. ahi teni laha. Hi leswi mufaneleke ku maha swona. Loko uku, isto nao da, nao pode ser assim, deixa isto... aswinga ta famba. Ngopfungopfu, mufanele aku sungula hi va rangeli. Haka nyingi, la va hluphaka ahi vanhu lava va xitsungu, i varangeli. Hikuva loko loyi a rangelaka na a randza leswi aswi randzaka, ata koka a vanhu aka swona.
Kulaveka a ti hloko, u sungula hitona. Varangeli [va kereke], varangeli va mitlawa uva dyondzisa, u yengisa a macomentario ya vona aka hikwaswo leswi va dyondzaka.
(Matsombe 2001, interview)
Translation:
Then show them, let us move from here, there is an error or evil here because of this and that, let us come here. This is what you must do. If you just say "This can't be so, this doesn't work, stop it, don't do it".. .that won't help. You must primarily start by teaching the leaders. Most of the time, those who cause trouble are not the ordinary believers, they are the leaders. Because, if one who leads the church and there is something he likes, he will drag the people behind him to that thing. You must start with the heads. You must teach church leaders and leaders of groups [youth, women, men], listening to their comments.
Talking on the role of the missionaries in this teaching, he said that there are two different categories of missionaries, the "yesterday" and the "today" missionary. The
"yesterday" missionaries were agents for transferring people from ntumbuluko to the
grace of Jesus Christ. "Today" missionaries do not learn the culture of the people.
Their teaching is general biblical studies without saying anything specific about the customs of the our country, the customs of the Lomwe people, the customs of the Tsongas, the customs of the Chopis, the customs of Vatswas and those of other people groups that are in our church.
Then I asked Rev. Matsombe whether research which would then produce a guideline for the church in gospel and culture issues could help or not. He answered and gave other supportive comments and stories as follows:
Yinga pfuna swinene ngopfu [aphindile kotala]. Lexo xinga pfuna hikuva xita ngena awutomini la ntumbuluko wa lixaka lelo. Vata switwa aku hakunene [itiyiso] hikuva wena utave utamelile a Bibele na xiheno lexiya uxi tamelile amavokweni. Uku tuna ha switiva leswaku hitsamisile leswi na leswi na leswi, kambe leswi swinga tisiwa hi Yesu, aku vonakala, na tintswalo na ntiyiso hi leswi, na leswi na leswi. Se hi va komba leswaku hi fanele a ku ta laha atintswalweni, hi va komba leswaku loko hinge se fika laha ahi se fika atintswalweni ta Yesu.
Ninga swiseketela, loko wena hakunene u swi randza leswi swaku hlota ati mhaka leti tinga pfunaka, naswikota akuku seketela hiku teka andoda kumbe mandoda ya lotnu, Xai-Xai na ka Vilankulu hi ta tsama hixuxa. Hikuva swikona leswi xanisaka a bandla swamukhuva, akaman'wani masiku hiku vulavula ka hina a pulpito vakalaka vanga switwi. Loko hi endla hiku tsama a hansi, swinga apswa swinene. Hinga endli hiku va khahla hiku tsikani leswiya. Van'wana avaswitive lomu swin'wana swinga tumbuluka kona, voswilandza nje. Kasi ke loko vongo kuma ku pfuniwa hi ndlela leyo a swi ta pfuna swinene. Mhamba-tikona ati kereke leti mahaka amikhongelo wo phahla a vafi. Van'wana a vazalwani va hina vaya kona vaya kombela aku katekisiwa hi va tata wa vona la va feke. Loko a hi kota leswaku a bandla li tiya, aswitave swisasekile ngopfu. Amasiku ndzaku ahiri ni makuruso ya hikwavo vatiri.
Ahiva dyondzisa atimhaka leti, niswin'wana leswa mukhuva aswingena aka programa lelo. Kambe uprograma ali fambanga, kambe lisasekile swinene.
(Matsombe 2001, interview)
Translation:
It can help very much [he repeated this many times, which is a Tsonga emphatic mechanism]. It can help very much because it will penetrate the life [heart] of ntumbuluko of that people. They will surely understand that truly it is truth because on the one hand you will have the Bible and on the other hand their customs. In addressing (evangelising, teaching) them [and using the research findings] you will say: 'We know that we are like this and that. However, Jesus is this and that (light, grace and truth). Then we show them that we must come to the grace, showing them that before we come to this point we haven't arrived yet at the grace of Jesus.
I can support such research. If you truly like investigating issues that can help, I can support you by gathering the elders as informants from Xai-Xai and Vilankulo and we can discuss together. There are some issues that are troubling the church; there are some stranger practices/incidents [in our denomination]. We cannot properly address these issues from the pulpit. If we can sit down, this could be better. We