UKUTHWALA IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION AND OTHER CULTURAL PRACTICES
2.2. SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN KZN
Generally every society has its own culture, and culture is a way of life imbued with customs and traditions (Nkosi, 2005; Vilakazi, 1962; Tyrrel, 1996). However, culture is dynamic. In Africa and South Africa cultural change was influenced mainly by ‘waves’ of change, such as civilisation, Christianisation, and westernisation that swept Africa. For many years Africa had been colonised mostly by European countries such as Britain, Portugal, France, and so on. Consequently, as Etherington (2002) states, the Western type of education and religions influenced the greater part of Africa, including KZN in South Africa. He further states that in KZN mission stations began in the 1830s, and missionaries were mostly from New England and America and ‘scrambled’ to turn Africans into not only Christians but also readers who would read for themselves “the catechism and other printed material containing doctrines of the western religions”
(Etherington, 2002). As Buthelezi (2010) argues, this social transformation greatly affected the traditional understandings and meanings of customs and traditions in many Zulu communities.
Culturally, and particularly among the Zulu people in South Africa, the way of life of the people was integrated with complex religious rituals and cultural practices that sought to sustain life and bring about harmony (Nyembezi & Nxumalo, 1995, p.100). However,
38 the Zulus’ conceptualisation of life was unfamiliar and strange to the Western thought.
As a result, missionaries and colonists criticised and stigmatised African beliefs and practices as harmful, superstitious and barbaric (Etherington, 2002). Nyembezi and Nxumalo (1995, p.100) also argue that different races usually undermine customs of each other because of the lack of understanding of the meaning and importance of the
‘foreign’ customs to those who are practising them. In articulating the missionaries’
perspective of Zulu cultural practices, Balia (2007) states that“In the missionaries’
minds, Zulu superstitions hardly deserved the name of a religion” (Balia, 2007).
Notwithstanding the powerful systems of colonialism, Christianity, and later apartheid in South Africa, Africans were thus conditioned to think of themselves, their views, cultures, language and dress as inferior to those of the Europeans. As such, fascinated by Western civilisation and eager to assimilate Western ways of living, most Zulus abandoned their beliefs and cultures as they became civilised, educated and converted to Christianity (Buthelezi, 2010). As a result, African customs, tradition and philosophy were lost, and most cultural practices such as ukuthwala had their meanings distorted or lost because the Western interpretations became popular (Buthelezi, 2010;
Msimang, 1991). However, one needs to acknowledge the fact that in some parts of deep rural KZN, such as Bergville (Emangwaneni), Zwelibomvu, and at KwaNgcolosi, some societies refused to subscribe to Christianity, urbanisation and civilisation and chose to continue with their cultural way of life, meaning that most of the cultural practices continue to exist even today in such areas.
The Zulu nation was cohesive and characterised by Zulu culture and traditions. The nation had been small, and in the late 18th century during the reign of King Shaka Zulu he formed a large Zulu nation by amalgamating more than 300 different nations (Msimang, 1991, p.218; Deflem, 1999). This strong, cohesive Zulu nation crumbled at the collision ofWestern religion and civilisation on the one hand and traditional life on the other, and two new groups emerged in society from this fragmentation (Buthelezi, 2010). New labels also emerged among the Zulus to distinguish the two groups from
39 each other – the converted group was referred to as amakholwa (the Christianised), or abaphucuzekile / amagqoka (the civilised), whereas the group that continued with its traditional life was known as iziqhaza / amabhinca (the traditionalists) or amaqaba (the heathens) (Buthelezi, 2010). This societal division also marked the division of rural areas where each of the groups lived: for example, emabhinceni / eziqhazeni, (where traditionalists lived), and emakholweni or ezimishini (where Christians lived). To this day, several deep rural areas referred to as eziqhazeni exist in rural KZN where people follow many of the traditional customs. A few examples of such areas in KZN where amabhinca still exist are EZwelibomvu, EBergville, KwaNgcolosi (EMshazi), EMaphephethweni, KwaNyuswa, and in the north of KZN at ENgome, EMachunwini, OKhukho, EMakhabeleni (Kranskop), KwaNxamalala, KwaMajozi, ENquthu, EMabomvini and EMbangwini.
The coexistence of the two groups – iziqhaza (heathens) andnamakholwa (Christianised) – meant that some people among the Christianised group found it difficult to part completely with their cultural way of life. They then reverted to the cultural way of living, but in a context of Western religions, civilisation and Western education. Most of the cultural practices that survived in such contexts were distorted.
Tamale (2010, p.56) states that in feminist legal studies culture is often viewed as a deviation from the path of human rights. Most feminists also argue that culture is gendered (see, for example, Moore, 1994; Magwaza, 2006; Nhlapho, 1992). On the other hand, scholars like Mohanty, Russo and Torres (1991), Mohanty (2003), as well as Moraga and Anzaldua (1983), effectively demonstrate how ‘First World’ feminists have represented ‘Third World’ women as helpless victims of culture, objects devoid of any agency. Contrary to this, African scholars such as Zondi (2008), through analysing Zulu women’s use of izigiyo (the Zulu female dance) in his thesis titled
‘Bahlabelelelani?’ (meaning ‘Why do they sing?’) substantively argues that ‘Third World’ women – in this case rural Zulu women in KZN – are not helpless victims of culture. Zondi’s argument is that Zulu women’s voice, which they express in a cultural
40 way using izigiyo, is loud and clear.
However, one has to understand this cultural way of expression to comprehend the assertiveness, anger, joy and other emotions and ideas expressed by Zulu women.
Magwaza (2001) echoes Zondi’s (2008) argument in her article (titled ‘Private transgressions: the visual voice of Zulu women’. Magwaza discusses Zulu women’s
‘dress’ as a form of expression, which women use to voice their concerns especially directed at males who in most cases are their husbands or lovers. Furthermore, writing about African / indigenous philosophies, Goduka (2000, p.71) writes that the naming of children in indigenous communities is regarded as a sacred and spiritual ceremony because it foretells the future of the child. I add that Zulu women use naming of a child as a form of expression used to express their concerns directed at their husbands, family or community members and especially their neighbours. Therefore one cannot generalise and say culture in itself is oppressive to women, since radical transformation of women’s sexuality and women’s emancipation can happen within culture. Some aspects of culture empower women and some maybe used as a tool to liberate women.
I further elucidate this point in my analysis of ukuthwala practice in Chapter 7 of this thesis.
Mohanty (1991) extends her criticism of ‘First World’ feminists who speak for ‘Third World’ women as helpless victims of culture, to the urban middle-class ‘Third World’
scholars who write about their own cultures and rural sisters in the same colonising fashion. She argues that such approaches are “myopic and dangerous as they create an extremely restrictive framework within which African women can challenge domination” (Mohanty, 1991, p.5) and calls for a nuanced and refreshing approach to culture that seeks to integrate its local understanding within the human rights discourse, advocating for internal “cultural transformation”. An-Na’im and Hammond (2002, cited in Tamale, 2010, p.59) make a persuasive argument for the dynamic concept of internal “cultural transformation” as the most practical guarantee of entrenching human rights in African societies. They use the term “cultural
41 transformation” to refer to “the dynamics of change as internal processes of societal adaptation by a variety of actors in response to a wide range of stimuli at different levels, rather than simply the product of internal hegemony or external imposition”.
They argue that culture has a significant impact on human rights paradigms around the world and as such, culture is the best-suited vehicle for protecting rights. Hence, African feminists (see, for example, Amadiume, 1987, 1997; Mohanty, 1991;
Oye’wu’mi’, 2002; Buthelezi, 2010; Tamale, 2010; Arnfred, 2010) call for re- conceptualisation of African cultures. They argue that African cultures continue to be
“stereotyped” “demonised”, and “suppressed”. Furthermore, they state that the values and philosophy that underpinned cultural practices have also been lost.
Writing about virginity testing among the Zulus of contemporary KZN, Buthelezi (2010, p.78) argues that “the reawakening of indigenous cultural consciousness in South Africa, which occurred in the wake of political liberation struggle, has led to cultural self- assertion”. She further argues that one of the major challenges facing black Africans in the post-independence South Africa is how contemporary societies “disentangle”
themselves psychologically from the oppressive control of colonists and Western religions. Accordingly, cultural identity is clearly one of the key tools currently deployed in the current search for a new sense of importance among black South Africans. She thus concludes that revivalist movements of the previously oppressed and marginalised people that celebrate traditional culture negotiate a new place in the society and history (Buthelezi, 2010, p.78). Buthelezi (2010) further argues that for the Zulus virginity testing has become an important site of resistance to cultural crisis and in seeking to maintain relevance in a fast-changing world.
This thesis presents similar arguments that the approach to ukuthwala practice should not be simplistic and monopolistically suggest that the practice is a violation of human rights. Rather, arguments about ukuthwala practice should consider its origin and existence in traditional societies, its nature and purpose, as well as its link to the traditional values of such societies. Furthermore, arguments about this practice should
42 also consider the influence of social transformation on the practiceover the years. In other words, analysis and debates about ukuthwala should not be delinked from the context and its dynamics. Therefore, this thesis discusses ukuthwala practice and attempts to link it to its historical, traditional and contemporary contexts and their dynamics.
This thesis presents arguments that challenge a view that ukuthwala practice in its traditional form is oppressive to women. It argues that what is generally presented as ukuthwala, that is oppressive to women and that violates women’s rights, is actually not ukuthwala practice but ubugebengu (criminality). The thesis concludes that intervention programmes that deal with issues such as women’s human rights, gender sensitisation, GBV and poverty in societies can address this criminality without attacking ukuthwala practice per se.
2.3. ‘RURALITY’
This study is based in selected rural areas of KZN. I therefore discuss ‘rurality’ here and show the different rural areas and diversity of people living in such areas. ‘Rurality’ is a derivative from the term ‘rural’, with rural having to do with the countryside rather than the town (Soanes, 2002, p.787). According to Howarth (n.d., p.5) the terms
‘countryside’ and ‘rural areas’ are not synonymous. Countryside “refers to rural areas that are open. Forest, wetlands, and other areas with a low population density are not countryside”(Howarth, n.d., p.5). The United States Census Bureau, the Bureau’s Economic Research Service and the Office of Management and Budget have come together to help define rural areas as those that “comprise open country and settlements with fewer than 2500 residents and areas designated as rural can have population densities as high as 999 per square mile or as low as 1 person per square mile” (Howarth, n.d., p.2) This is applicable in South Africa today. Furthermore, rural areas are designated by the South African Census as those that do not lie inside an urbanised area or urban cluster. This definition is based on population density. The
43 National Center for Education claims that rural areas are subdivided by their proximity to an urbanised area into the categories ‘fringe’, ‘distant’, or ‘remote’ (Howarth, n.d., p.2). In KZN today we find various forms of rural areas populated by various groups of people.
The apartheid government of the Nationalist Party that ruled South Africa for more than 40 years ensured unequal distribution of resources among different racial groups, with Africans receiving the lowest allocation of resources. As a result, and because Africans predominantly occupy rural areas, none of the rural areas were developed. Although much development work has happened since 1994 when the African National Congress (ANC) government took power in South Africa, much redress of past imbalances still needs to occur. For example, districts in the rural areas of Zwelibomvu, KwaNgcolosi and Bergville are under-developed. These places are the opposite of the developed rural areas, such as the eNguqwini district of Zwelibomvu, eMaNgwaneni and ePotshini districts of Bergville, eMShazi district of KwaNgcolosi and eMaPhephetheni across KwaNgcolosi. The under-developed areas are highly populated by iziqhaza / amabhinca (heathens), and cultural practices are strictly observed. It is in these areas where the ukuthwala practice still prevails.
As mentioned above, some people in KZN turned to Christianity and also received a Western type of education, while others refused to adopt a Christian way of life. The
‘civilised’ and ‘Christianised’ group of people called amakholwa segregated themselves from the iziqhaza (heathens), those who refused to take up Christianity and civilisation.
As a result, in the rural areas of KZN one would find a part referred to as eziqhazeni (where the heathens live). Iziqhaza or Iziqhazawereare referred to as heathens because people who have taken up Christianity look down upon them, and is because they were ‘taught’ to look down upon their own culture and tradition that was categorised as ‘ungodly’. They live a traditional way of life and adhere to cultural norms, values and practices as handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. They are significantly ‘uneducated’ by Western standards, and usually
44 characterised by their traditional dress code. They also wear red ochre on their faces, especially when performing domestic chores like tilling the land and even when at home.
On the other hand, the term amakholwa means ‘the believers’. Most of them are educated. Amakholwa are Christian converts by European missionaries such as Wesleyans, Lutherans, Romans, Presbyterians, and the American Board. Missionaries established mission stations in rural areas of KZN which are characterised by churches and schools, and this is where Christians live today, for example:uMngeni, the American Board (United Congregational Church of Southern Africa)mission station at KwaNgcolosi; Emaus Lutheran as well as Anglican mission station at Begville; and ePanekeni Roman Catholic Church mission station at Zwelibomvu. The missionaries as they exist today have changed from what they were back then. For example, missionaries were then all white people.
Most people who adopted the Christian and Western way of life later found that their lives were missing the traditional way of living. They therefore started to incorporate their traditions into the Christian way of life (Buthelezi, 2010). This meant that while they went to churches, they also continued some of their cultural practices. The problem with this ‘mixed’ way of life is that people had lost their cultural values and knowledge regarding practices. As Buthelezi (2010) argues, because of the loss of cultural values, knowledge and the philosophical underpinnings of cultural practices, the practices became distorted and lostmeaning. When talking about ukweshela, (proposing love to a woman), Msimang (1991) also argues that some people practise witchcraft and abuse in the name of culture.