"The Contralesa President speaks"

THE SOCIAL CHANGE ASSISTANCE TRUST CONFERENCE
WOMEN’S RIGHTS UNDER AFRICAN CUSTOMARY SYSTEMS

PRESENTATION BY NKOSI/ADVOCATE PHATHEKILE HOLOMISA

(A! DILIZINTABA) MP AND PRESIDENT OF THE CONGRESS OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS OF SOUTH AFRICA
25-26 JULY 2007, CAPE TOWN.

White society, through its socio-economic, political, religious and educational systems, misinterpreted, misunderstood, distorted, manipulated and disfigured our cultures, customs, traditions and our ways of life as Africans generally. They did this almost so successfully that the great majority of our people believed the interpretation of our ways by the then white ruling class as the correct ones. This caused so much damage that educated Africans conducted themselves in ways that showed a desire to distance themselves from their culture as it became an embarrassment to them.

This group continues to distinguish itself by speaking amongst themselves in English even when they are of the same language group. Being able to express yourself in English, even when you can’t do so in your own language, seems to be the hallmark of civilization. Knowledge of one’s language enables a person to know and understand one’s culture. Through the language you are able to understand the idioms and proverbs, behind which are hidden or stored the values and beliefs of your people. You begin to realize why certain things are done or stated in particular ways.

Through some of our colonial laws and books written by white “experts”, we are told that women are perpetual minors, who are forever beholden to their men-folk, through whom they can only enjoy their rights. We are told that they have no rights of their own and cannot even inherit their parents’ estates. Our own educated leaders and policy-makers, males and females, swallow this lie, hook, line and sinker, as the gospel truth. They cannot do otherwise because their education taught them so. They never bother to ask of their own organic intellectuals as to why certain of our practices appear to undermine a section of the community, because to them intellectuals, and thus repositories of knowledge, are those who have imbibed the white man’s education.

In African culture there is gender equity. Everyone has his or her own place and space. None threads unduly in the space of the other. The woman nurtures the children; she prepares food for them; she teaches them proper behaviour, good morals and industriousness. The man provides the food, shelter and comfort for the family. Everything he brings to the fold belongs to all of them in undivided shares. The livestock that he acquires is to be used for the benefit of the family. He is not allowed to use it as he pleases without consulting with his partner, the wife. If an animal is to be slaughtered he is required to even inform his brothers, especially if it is an ox/cow/bull. The brothers are concerned that he does not squander family resources as when destitute they will be a burden on them as well.

The other oft-repeated lie is that women are not allowed to own land. The truth of the matter is that no individual owns land. Land is owned collectively by the tribe and the administration of the institution of traditional leadership i.e. the traditional leader and his counselors. Each member of the tribe is entitled to a piece of land to build a home, to cultivate food and to graze the family livestock. Because everyone belongs to a family the land is allocated in such a manner that families, and not individuals, are given land to use. Minor and unmarried children are under the care of their parents, thus do not deserve to be given land of their own.

A married man is entitled to apply for a piece of land to provide the necessities of life to his family. The allotment belongs to him and his family in undivided shares. He cannot evict any of them from such allotment. Had the white bothered to make the necessary enquiries when he introduced the land registration system, he would have been advised to register the allotments in the names of the husband, the wife and each child upon birth. Homesteads are even referred to in the names of the wives. This is so because, when the man applied for the allotment, he informed the traditional leadership that he had a wife for whom he had to build a homestead. This is why when the man decides to marry another wife he is required to find her another allotment. You might want to know why a woman is not allowed the right to marry more than one man at a time. I do not know the answer, but I did say that in our societies there is gender equity, nor have I ever come across a society where there is gender equality. I do concede, though, that societies are striving for that ideal.

The other basis for the assumption that women are perpetual minors is that when the man dies the eldest son is declared the heir. The truth is that the widow and the eldest son are joint administrators of the estate. None has the right to do as she or he pleases with the assets of the estate. They are trustees who are required to use the family resources in the same manner that they would have been used during the life of the man. The widow must live in the manner in which she did while the husband lived. She may not be evicted from her homestead.

 The daughters are entitled to get all the support they received from their father.  For all the necessary rituals, the purchase of the trousseau upon marriage, as well as anything else they need, the heir is required to provide. In fact this is the case even if the estate is insolvent.

Similarly with the younger brothers, they too are entitled to all the support that their father was required to provide. The heir must facilitate their rites of passage to manhood, the provision of lobolo for their prospective brides, as well as setting them up in their new homestead, 

Women cannot enter into contracts on their own without the assistance of their fathers, elder brothers or husbands, our anthropologists and their black disciples tell us. Again the truth is that amongst ourselves they are quite free to purchase anything they want, including livestock and other stuff. The whites decided that because they told us women were perpetual minors, they would not allow them to enter into contracts; they preferred the men. This has nothing to do with our culture.

I could go on and on debunking the many myths that were peddled and continue to be propagated by our detractors in the name of our culture. Let me conclude by dealing with the matter of women and succession to royal leadership. Succession to this position is determined by the customs of a particular clan. In some the leader must be a woman at all times; in others it must be a man at all times. Deviation from the set procedure renders the incumbent illegitimate. Deviation is allowed only in instances of regency, where the rightful successor is a minor or is otherwise incapacitated to take the position. In most cases in recent times, and for purposes of convenience mothers to the heir are encouraged to act as regents until he is in a position to take up his post. In the patrilineal systems, which is the majority of cases, the heir is always the son in order to ensure that it is a person who is born of the royal clan. He is expected to be able to himself give birth to a son who will be of the same clan. A daughter cannot bear a child of her own clan unless she commits incest. Clans which have women as royal leaders have their own sophisticated and peculiar arrangements in terms of which a successor is born. I am not privy to the intricacies involved in such matters, belonging as I do to a royal clan which chooses the heirs from the ranks of the sons.

My appeal to all those who are interested in this question of women’s rights under African customary systems must educate themselves, using the correct sources of information, before they pronounce judgments and cast aspersions on our ways of life.

UNESCO CONVENTION ON THE SAFEGUARDING OF INTANGIBLE
CULTURAL HERITAGE

WORKSHOP ON CULTURAL HERITAGE
THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS IN THE PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF INTANGIBLE HERITAGE

A PRESENTATION BY NKOSI PHATHEKILE HOLOMISA (A! DILIZINTABA) MP AND CONTRALESA PRESIDENT

DATE: 26-27 JULY 2007
VENUE: DIEP in die BERG, PRETORIA


Our way of life as Africans is informed by our history, traditions, religion, customs, cultural identity, mores and values, as well as systems of governance. Colonialism and its concomitant foreign forms of religion and education have impacted very negatively on this way of life to such an extent that important aspects of it have been lost. Fortunately, most of our rural traditional communities have managed to preserve our cultural heritage and it is thanks to these people that traditional leaders are able to preserve, to some extent, some aspects of our way of life.

Animals, plants, water and the land are integral features of the life of an African. Each in different respects serves a spiritual and material purpose for the enhancement of the life of the human being. It is in the interest of every community, therefore, that these and other natural resources are used in an ecologically-friendly manner.

Historically, the institution of traditional leadership has been the epitome of African governance systems. This has been the case in pre-colonial times, during colonial and, in the South African case, apartheid times. It continues to be the case even in post-colonial/apartheid times. Its fortunes in all these periods have been varied and characterized by abuse, misuse and manipulation at the hands of those who have managed to acquire political power. The one constant in this regard has been a suspicion held by all those who have assumed power that were it to regain its rightful position the institution might well challenge the legitimacy of the former.

The other constant feature has been a steadfast adherence to the institution by the great majority of rural African communities. These communities are only too aware of what traditional leaders have always been subjected to by the various political powers already referred to. They have been able to distinguish between individual traditional leaders and their actions on the one hand, and the institution of traditional leadership on the other. In this respect they are much more discerning than their political leaders and the educated modern elite.

Traditional leaders are the custodians of the African way of life. It is mainly for this reason that the institution has managed to survive the onslaught of the so-called western civilization and modernity. They, therefore, bear the responsibility to preserve and promote both the tangible and the intangible heritage of their people.

THE LAND

The Freedom Charter decrees that the land shall be shared among those who work it. This is the ethos by which Africans relate with land. It belongs to all who are entitled to live on it. It is so valuable it is priceless. It is the giver of life. Human beings, in life and in death, are attached to it. Wars have been fought to acquire and in defence of land. Such wars were invariably waged under the direction of traditional leaders. Where communal land was acquired through purchase it was almost always done under the guidance of the institution.

Accordingly, present day traditional leaders have a duty to protect communal lands. No one should be destitute and be denied of a piece of land to produce food for himself and those who are his dependants, and to provide for his livestock.

The same principles apply to the rivers and natural forests running through communal lands. The fish, the birds and wild game also belong in an equitable share to members of the relevant community.

FAMILY LIFE

Everyone is his brother’s keeper. We are obliged to look after each other. Members of the same family, same clan, same tribe have a reciprocal obligation to care for each other. The young look up to their elders for guidance and support, and in return they show respect and deference to the former.

All children belong to families. Orphanages have no place. Street children are a foreign phenomenon. Old age homes are unknown. Ukuzala kukuzolula, meaning that when the parents are no longer able to care for themselves their off-spring looks after them. At the same time the elderly act as nannies to their grand-children and in the process teach them moral values through story-telling and about their family histories.

There are cultural rituals which every individual is required to undergo, each one marking a significant stage in his life. At birth the child’s umbilical cord is buried in a place that indicates the child’s claim to the place where he is born, hence the saying “inkaba yam isekuthini.” Later on a sheep is slaughtered for a ritual called imbeleko. While this signifies the welcoming of the child to the family fold it also serves to provide the mother with a skin by which to strap the baby onto her back. This one is closely followed by the slaughtering of a goat or even an ox in a ritual called ukuqatywa komntwana. Through this ritual the baby is being introduced to his ancestors whose task it is to give him their blessings and to look after him and guide him as he grows.

When a girl reaches the stage of menstruation she is ready to be taught about important aspects of womanhood. She is ready to give birth to children of her own even though she may still be immature. This is where the teachings of the grandmothers and elderly aunts come handy. The appropriate ritual for this stage is intonjane. This is the rite of passage from being a girl into womanhood. Here she is trained on how to be a woman. She is prepared for a life of marriage. She is taught on the responsibilities and rights of being a wife, a mother, a leader.

The conclusion of a marriage involves the families and clans of the prospective couple. It is not a matter for the two individuals alone. The emissaries – oonozakuzaku –from both sides, as well as the cattle presented by the groom’s family to that of the prospective bribe as lobolo form the unbroken tie between the two families and clans. Oonozakuzaku and members of the two families and clans have an interest in the success of the marriage. Each one of the couples has a right to call on them for help when there are problems in the marriage.

With respect to the boys, they too undergo their own form of training to be responsible human beings. They grow up with the understanding that they must look after the family livestock with a view to providing milk and meat for the homestead. They are taught to look after their younger siblings and all vulnerable members of the family and the community.

At an appropriate age boys undergo the rite of passage into manhood. Ideally this rite of passage should take a period of about three months. Here they are trained about being a man. Men are the protectors and defenders of the women folk and vulnerable community members such as the elderly and the disabled. This means that child and women abuse are not to be tolerated. They are taught to be industrious defenders of the tribe and its lands; builders of their families and communities.

Just as birth is a shared occasion for celebration, so is death a shared period for mourning and mutual assistance. Each family member is expected, to the best of his ability, to contribute to burial arrangements. This is an occasion where all involved are expected to speak in subdued tones, to conduct themselves in dignified and solemn ways. The homestead itself is supposed to be daubed in somber colours, usually of grey mud. On the occasion of the burial itself the food to be served is supposed to be a humble fare, lacking in condiments such as salt and other spices.

The burial is followed by a period of mourning, with the family expected to desist from participating in functions celebration and joy. The widow is required to wear clothes which show respect for the dead husband for a period of a year – this is the period after which a ritual is performed to mark the end of mourning. The black weeds worn by widows are themselves a foreign concept introduced by the Christian missionaries. In our case widows should be wearing their normal traditional clothes, except for a black head-dress worn over the eyes.

THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

We have always had our own system of justice administration. It begins at home where the child shows respect for the mother, the mother for the husband, the husband for the traditional leader and the traditional leader for the ancestors who intercede for us to the Creator.

In practice what this means is that the court of first instance is the family, whose presiding officer is the father of the house. The next court of appeal is that of the clan, presided over by the most senior member of the clan. From this court the matter is referred to the court of the sub-headman, whose members would be the heads of the various clans of that particular locality.

The next port of call for the aggrieved party is the court of the headman. The leading officials here are the various sub-headmen who fall within this court’s area of jurisdiction.

The next level is that of the court of the tribe. Inkosi, the head of the tribe, presides over this court. He is assisted by the headmen who are in charge of the administrative areas falling within his area of rule.

In each one of these levels of justice administration prominent members of the relevant community, people who are known for their knowledge of the history, the customs, traditions and cultures of the people, are co-opted to assist in the investigation of the offence or complaint, the trial of the case, the assessment of the evidence, the determination of the judgment and, where appropriate, the pronouncement of the penalty.

The proceedings are conducted in open court. The rules of procedure are simple enough for all to follow and understand. Under a controlled manner every adult can examine and cross-examine the litigants and their witnesses.

Rehabilitative punishment of the offender, reconciliation of the parties and compensation of the victim are the goals of our system of justice administration.


THE HEALTH SYSTEM

Our natural environment has provided us with herbs and medicines to deal with our ailments. While some of these herbs and medicines were generally known to almost every adult person, our herbalists and diviners have talents and powers to determine the correct medication for specific ailments. These talents and powers are bestowed on them by supernatural spirits directed by their ancestors and those of their trainers.

In the course of their work the diviners act also as religious leaders connecting the living with the spirits of the dead in order for the latter to indicate the cause of the ailment and to tell of what needs to be done. Sometimes the diviners are able to reveal that some or other of the rituals that each African must undergo was not performed and the ailment was a call by the ancestors for such to be done.

Even in this day you do find people who cultivate medicinal plants in their gardens. These would be for ailments such as the common cold, stomach-aches, head-aches, physical injuries, et cetera.

The consumption of organic plant foods and animal meat enhanced the good health of the people. Home-grown pepper and onions, as well as salt, are condiments which add taste to food without any danger the health of the people.

CONCLUSION

Obviously there is no limit to what can be identified as aspects of our intangible cultural heritage. Each one of such aspects can be a subject of o conference on its own. Suffice to say that while the tendency by some who speak about these matters tend to do so in the past tense, this is a living heritage. It is there for those who want to experience it to do so. My abiding fear is that those who have it at their disposal tend to look down upon it because, since it has no foreign attachment to it, they think it is inferior and a sign of backwardness.

It remains the duty of traditional leaders to do all that they can to instill pride in their people in what they have. Educated African intellectuals must take up their rightful role as the counselors of traditional leaders, make our heritage relevant to the youth of our times and desist from seeking to be politically correct while our pride as Africans is eroded.