Coronavirus in South Africa: for the Xhosa, adulthood will wait

Published on : 14/08/2020 – 08:56

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Port Elizabeth (South Africa) (AFP)

At 17, Sinoyolo hoped to become a full “man” after having submitted to the traditional initiation rites of the Xhosa ethnic group. But the spread of the coronavirus in South Africa decided otherwise.

Sinoyolo’s uncle – an assumed name – had organized his stay in December in the mountains around Port Elizabeth (south) for initiation ceremonies called “Ukwaluko”, marking the passage of boys to adulthood.

Each year in June and December, thousands of young Xhosa ages 15 to 17 spend at least three weeks away from the world, during which time they are circumcised and learn to be responsible men.

But for the first time, the Xhosa kings, princes and traditional chiefs, the ethnic group of former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Nelson Mandela, have suspended this annual rite, during which the young people share a hut, with the only health accompaniment a “doctor of bush “.

They first decided in April, about a month after lockdown was imposed in South Africa, to postpone the ceremonies scheduled for June. Then all those for the year were canceled when it emerged that the epidemic would last for months, Afra Msutu, a traditional Xhosa chief, told AFP.

“If we send them there and a boy tests positive, they will all be infected,” he continues.

“When you go to the mountains to get circumcised, for the first seven days you are very vulnerable,” Afra Msutu points out, “we thought it would be too dangerous and we might lose more boys than usual. “.

Circumcisions performed in basic sanitary conditions kill dozens of people every year, as well as numerous victims of dehydration and infections.

Sinoyolo acknowledges that the postponement of his initiation brings him a slight relief, both because of the harshness of the rites and the risk of contracting Covid-19, which officially killed more than 11,000 for some 570,000 confirmed cases in South Africa. South.

For him as for the traditional chief, the worst would have been to have to interrupt or shorten the initiation.

“When you are up there in the mountain, you are not supposed to come back until the end, even if you are sick, because you would lose your values ​​there,” says Afra Msutu.

“We didn’t want to take the risk that the community saw our boys in 2020 as weak because they didn’t go through with the process,” he adds.

Sinoyolo nods vigorously, stressing the importance of initiation. “Older guys do things you can’t do and call you a kid, that’s why I want to raise my level” in Xhosa society, the teen said.

Afra Msutu nevertheless assures that the decision to cancel this year’s ceremonies was unanimous: “As exciting as it may be to go to the mountains, the main thing is to come back alive.”

© 2020 AFP

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