To Port Elizabeth and Back Again 4

March 26, 2004 - If it Dies, I Die
We were hosted by Mthunzi and Thoko for the evening last night. We went to Mthunzi's house in New Brighton, where he lives with his younger brothers. By non-white South Africa standards, his home is quite nice. It has cement walls, electricity, a kitchen and running water. He was very proud to share with us and to introduce us to the children in the area, who all ran up to the car, excitedly shouting "Mthunzi !Mthunzi!" as we pulled up. Inside his home he explained the, for lack of a better word, sticks, hanging on the wall – his younger brother's Sotho initiation sticks.

Mthunzi grew up thinking he was Xhosa; both he and his father went through the Xhosa initiation in the Bush. He later found out that he was in fact Sotho and that he had a family of half brothers. After his father's death, he took on the role of father to his brothers, and to reclaim their lost heritage, required them to participate in the Sotho male initiation. He plans to go through the Sotho initiation himself – he's actually going to do it all again and spend three months in the Bush.

After seeing Mthunzi's home and neighbourhood, we drove to Thoko's lovely home, where we were greeted by a young dance group – performing traditional Xhosa dances and songs. These are kids from the township who formed the group as a way of combating the 35% unemployment rate in the Eastern Cape of South Africa (no, that's not a typo, 35%). They were fabulous. Thoko was in her traditional Xhosa attire and she had prepared a FEAST! Not a dinner – a feast. There was so much food, including samp and beans (which I liked very much), mussels and hake (which I liked very much), and smiley and tripe (no comment). Smiley is essentially a boiled sheep head and tripe...well we all know what tripe is. I did taste the smiley (no comment). I did not taste the tripe. This evening was so special – it was a gift.

After feasting, we watched Mthunzi's video tape of the ceremony for his cousin’s return from the three months of initiation in the Bush. As we watched, he explained some of the rituals and he and Donald (Thoko's husband), talked about some of the similarities and differences between the Sotho and the Xhosa rituals. Rose asked Mthunzi if he thought these traditions would be maintained, and his response was one of the most eloquent expressions of the importance of cultural heritage and cultural identity that I've ever heard face-to-face and in-the-moment. He said, "Let me answer that two ways," and first explained that he remembered reading a book in which tribal rituals were discussed and the author was certain that those particular rituals would never end, but now twenty years later, the rituals had, in fact, disappeared. He continued by explaining that he needed to believe that the rituals would continue. He felt that they could be modified to fit in the modern world (for example, already instead of 6 months in the Bush for the men, it's three, and it may be shortened again so that initiates get home in time to start university classes. He is absolutely opposed to female circumcision), but that they must be maintained. He accepts changing them but requires that people understand why they are performed and the value they have for the culture. This is why he made his brothers go through it and this is why his children will do it. And then he said, "If this dies, I die."

I don't think I/we have any cultural equivalent. It's a lot to think about.