CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE MIDDLE OF HEATED DEBATE
Cultural groups, delegates from the Zulu royal house and observers last week gathered at the Balalaika Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg, to debate the value and place of cultural practices in South Africa. Nompumelelo Runji took notes. Bafana Mahlangu took
WHEN she was a pupil, Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva became a victim of religious indoctrination.
Now head of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission), Mkhwanazi-Xaluva is rebelling against colonial teachings which flourished at the expense of African traditions.
She kicked off an inaugural round-table dialogue series on cultural rights, hosted by the commission, by telling a story of how she was taught at school.
“I could recite the Bible, not because I was a good Christian but because my passing or failing depended on it,” she said.
She located the current battles over culture, religion and language in SA’s history of colonialism and apartheid.
“We were colonised not only just by the taking of land, but the aim was to make us abandon our culture, the aim was to make us look down on ourselves ... it was to make us believe we are less than, the aim was to make us buy into whatever they were selling.”
Apartheid continued this onslaught on indigenous culture and religion by imposing Christianity on all communities.
The study of the Bible and memorising its text was made a prerequisite for academic attainment.
In post-apartheid SA the rights of all groups are recognised and the respect, protection and promotion thereof are enshrined in law.
Mkhwanazi-Xaluva noted how the Freedom Charter and the constitution have created an enabling environment for the practice of culture and religion.
But along with legislation that empowers cultural, religious and linguistic communities is legislation that disempowers them.
The application of laws and certain sections of legislation perpetuate colonialism and apartheid’s effect of making African cultural practices inferior to others, she said.
She made an example of the law that allows for the reuse of graves.
Section 20 of the KwaZulu-Natal Cemeteries and Crematoria Act allows exhumation under specific circumstances. It also allows for the grave to be used again.
This is taboo in African culture, where graves are considered sacred.
The Children’s Act has created another point of contention for proponents of African culture.
Ukuhlolwa or virginity testing can only be performed on girls above the age of 16, with their consent and only after they have been counselled.
Mkhwanazi-Xaluva challenged the assertion that virginity testing exposes girls to sexual violence.
She criticised a statement of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, made in February 2011, for taking this position without engaging with communities involved in the practice.
She also criticised government for misinforming the UN committee about the practice of virginity testing, as well as for signing other international protocols that undermine African culture.
This amounts to a declaration of a cultural war.
Dr Nokuzola Mndende lambasted the government for elevating Christianity at the expense of African religions.
“We must know history. Christianity came in 1652, Buddhism in 1860, Judaism in 1804, Islam in 1658 and the Bahai faith recently. But you find in our country, these are the religions that are recognised. We are no longer oppressed by white people but by our own people, ” she said.
Thobeka Kentane-Mekwa said Africans are led by foreign law.
“Where do we draw the line between the civil law and the traditional law? Which has power over the other?” she asked.
“More platforms need to be created to allow for a debate around this and other critical questions.”