King Goodwill Zwelithini made himself some new fans this past weekend. One of them was the Congress for South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), and another … myself.
He announced the reintroduction of the ritual of male circumcision among young Zulu men, overturning a declaration made by his ancestor Shaka almost two centuries ago.
Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven, according to media reports, had this to say: ”The king is prepared to end nearly two centuries of tradition in the interest of saving lives, and the federation notes that the practice of circumcision among Zulus will be done by medical practitioners to avoid unnecessary deaths.”
You see, Shaka felt at the time that the young men within his tribe were more useful in his army than nursing circumcision wounds on some mountain somewhere. For this reason, I don’t believe he is turning in his grave over the latest turn of events.
I respect Shaka’s stance, given the circumstances at the time. He wasn’t going to sit around waiting with only a few men for an ensuing war, while the young and virile ones enjoyed a mountain holiday, arguably at the expense of the tribe.
Zwelithini, of course, has challenges of his own generation to grapple with. As the leader of a people as powerful and present as the Zulu nation, he has to make sacrifices, much as Shaka did back then, that have to do with preserving what is in the best interests of the nation.
A paradox, if you will, of how culture at times can and cannot be useful. While Shaka’s call meant that an important traditional ritual would fall away because there was the more urgent matter of fighting a war and emerging the victors (which is really the point of any war, isn’t it?), Zwelithini’s is also a cause for fighting a different kind of war — but a war nonetheless — that will require the very ritual previously abolished be reincorporated into the broader spectrum of his people’s culture.
”In the context of the fight against HIV and Aids I should announce my intention to revive the practice of circumcision among young men,” said Zwelithini in an address to the many people who turned up for the Umkhosi Wokweshwama in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday.
While the country got entangled in a debate over whether or not to abolish the bull-fighting practice associated with ukweshwama — this culminating in a court case in which Judge Nic van der Reyden ruled in favour of the Zulu royal delegation defending their cultural right against Animal Rights Africa’s (ARA) court application — the king, whose monarchy reigns over about 11-million people, had a surprise up his sleeve.
What started out as a challenge the country has yet to forget — thanks to the media’s extensive reporting and interest in the matter — culminated in the beginning of a revolution full with opportunities in the fight against Aids in South Africa.
According to several studies done on the subject, male circumcision is said to reduce the risk of contracting HIV in heterosexual men by more than 50%. Furthermore, South Africa’s Aids statistics cite KwaZulu-Natal as the province with the leading number of infections.
Of course, the king’s statement on Saturday means that there would have to be a conscious effort by all stakeholders, including government, to not only establish but also monitor the advent of initiation schools — some of which will be bogus. This is inevitable, at all costs, to prevent the disastrous situation that the Eastern Cape has been struggling to deal with over the past few years.