 Initiation is not all about circumcision In his short, but highly illustrious and controversial reign, King Shaka did a number of things that shook the piece of land now known as South Africa. In his quest to create good neighbourliness, he went around cajoling smaller clans and tribes into joining what would become the Zulu nation. Where verbal persuasion would not work, Shaka reluctantly resorted to using the spear and knobkerrie to better articulate his ideas. Historians have painted him as a war-monger when, in fact, his preferred method of communication was verbal. But he would not tolerate those who doubted or questioned his words or wisdom. That's why he got to be called Umlomo Ongathethi Manga - the mouth that does not tell lies. Those who questioned his word did not live to tell the tale. One of those who learnt the hard way was Zwide, powerful chief of the Ndwandwe (Nxumalo) people. In his quest to suppress the Zulus, Zwide killed Dingiswayo, Shaka's predecessor. When Shaka picked up the spear from where Dingiswayo had left it - as we say in my language - he was determined to avenge his predecessor's death. In one of his encounters with Zwide's people, his soldiers captured Ntombazi, Zwide's mother and a well-known sangoma. To send a message to Zwide and his followers, legend tells us that Shaka locked Ntombazi in a house with jackals and hyenas, who devoured her. He later conquered Zwide. From then on, Shaka's name was mentioned in reverential tones. The king then went about his project of instilling discipline and respect into his people. One of his achievements was to create a number of age-grade regiments. Age grades were responsible for a variety of activities - from herding cattle to other rituals and ceremonies, including going to war. At the height of his power, he could command an army of 50000, comprising the various age-grade regiments that were central to his reign. In his quest to lay foundations for good discipline, the king did away with the throwing assegai, replacing it with a short stabbing spear called iklwa. He thought the throwing spear was a waste of resources - the iron ore used as the head of the spear was a rare commodity. He also decided to do away with - and that is the heart of this column - the ritual of initiation, which included the circumcision of boys. He thought the time that boys spent at initiation school could be spent more productively and constructively in what would have been called military school. Zulu men stopped going to initiation school, while other groupings such as Ndebeles and Xhosas continued to abide by this ritual. It therefore came as a surprise to many of my people when reigning King Goodwill Zwelithini told the nation a few weeks ago that it was his prerogative to resuscitate the initiation of young men. Many thought this was an insult to the memory of King Shaka. The rationale behind the resuscitation of the ritual is that some medical practitioners believe that circumcision decreases the chances of acquiring sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. On the face of it, King Goodwill's exhortation is noble. But there is a sinister reality behind the ritual. Almost every year we hear of young boys dying because some of those in charge of the initiation schools do not have the skills to perform circumcisions. Circumcision is but one part of a series of rituals that constitute the initiation ceremony. In his utterance, the king did not take cognisance of this reality. He created the impression that initiation is simply about circumcision. If one were to follow the king's logic - his concern about sexually transmitted diseases - one would conclude that he is concerned only with circumcision. If that is the case, why not simply encourage boys and young men to go to clinics and hospitals to be circumcised? Why revive the whole initiation shebang, which is likely to result in a whole lot of complications that will lead to unnecessary deaths? It should be remembered that this is the same king who revived the annual killing of the bull with bare hands. Before I am misunderstood, let me point out that the bigger First Fruits ceremony is commendable. We should thank the gods for the harvest. My reservation is the killing of the bull, which constitutes a minor part of this noble ceremony. The killing of the bull has mired the entire ceremony in controversy. I fear that the king's intention to revive initiation will go the way of the bull-killing ceremony - throw us back to the dark ages. Mind you, the last killing-of- the-bull ceremony went haywire when the initiates failed miserably to kill the bull. A friend who was at the ceremony was shocked beyond belief when the supposed brave young men ran away from the charging bull. Ironically, it took bigger men, who had in the past killed their own bull, to conquer this year's bull. So what was the point? I, a humble subject of the reigning king, beseech His Majesty to seek wise counsel before he makes embarrassing pronouncements that will make us the laughing stock. Let us not disturb King Shaka in his resting place at KwaDukuza. -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . |
