White initiate transcends culture gap
Brendan ignores dangers to join his best mate in undergoing ritual
AWHITE East London boy has taken a 13-year friendship to another level by deciding to accompany Yanelisa Somyo, 18, to a Xhosa initiation school.
Brendan de Wet, 17, and Somyo, son of former Amathole District Municipality mayor Sakhumzi Somyo, are currently at an initiation school in Lower Gqumashe in Alice.
De Wet said he had joined his friend because he wanted to experience a different culture.
“I just want to learn, have a new experience,” De Wet said.
Despite reports about deaths, botched circumcisions and, even violence at circumcision schools in the past couple of years, De Wet said he was not scared of being an initiate.
“People have treated me well here; they have welcomed me. When I got here, there were a lot of people and I was surprised because I didn’t expect that many people,” he said.
Last week, the Daily Dispatch reported that a man had shot and killed a traditional nurse and a teenager at an initiation school in Qunu.
Lying on his makeshift bed made of crushed cardboard boxes, with a simple blanket for covering, De Wet admitted he missed home a bit.
“This is not really comfortable compared to my bed,” he said.
But it is only his bed and homecooked meals that he misses.
“Yes, I miss a home-cooked meal but the food here is not bad. It’s not the first time I have eaten mngqusho and mphokoqo (samp with beans and pap). I grew up in Queenstown and am used to these dishes,” he said.
Asked if he missed his phone, TV or social networking, De Wet said he did not think about technology. “I have my phone, so I listen to music but there is no network here.”
De Wet said there was not much family resistance when he told his father he wanted to go to the bush.
“My parents were okay with this. Dad was definitely for it and mom, too, until the last day when I had to leave,” he said.
“But my sister doesn’t really understand what’s happening, she is still too young; just 12. She doesn’t really get the whole village thing.”
This is the second time a white initiate has been in this village.
In 2008, another white boy went through initiation there, something villager Simphiwe Toko, 37, said was positive for his culture.
“It means this practice is accepted by other cultures . . . it is open to other races and cultures now because South Africa is a rainbow nation,” he said.
Yanelisa said it meant a lot to him that his friend had joined him.
“I was really happy he came because at my school (Hudson Park), they don’t seem to understand the value of this rite,” said Yanelisa. —