The Francophone Black world knows Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid activist, the first Black president of South Africa, winner of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. It knows less about the Xhosa-Thembu culture that saw him born and grow up.
The Xhosas and the Thembus
Nelson Mandela comes from the Thembu ethnic group. For Mandela himself, the Thembus belong to the Xhosa people. But some Thembus consider themselves distinct from the Xhosas¹..
The Xhosas are a people related to the Swazis and the Zulus, within a larger group called the Nguni.
The Xhosas belong to the family of speakers of so-called “Bantu” languages.
The Xhosas are a patrilineal people in which every individual belongs to a lineage, a group of people claiming a common ancestor. Each lineage belongs to a clan, a group of lineages whose common history has been forgotten but who believe themselves to descend from a common ancestor and who share a clan name.
The Xhosas have an “almost mystical” attachment, according to Mandela, to cattle, whose enclosure occupies the central place of the homesteads. It provides them with food and milk, as well as the material for sacrifice to the ancestors.
The traditional order of importance in society favors elders over the young and men over women².
Genetic origins
Mandela was the subject, in 2004, of a study of his genetic heritage. He was tested as a descendant, on the paternal side, of a line of ancestors common to the Bantu populations of Central and Southern Africa.
On his mother’s side, he descends from a line of ancestors common to the indigenous populations of South Africa, the San.
This mixture, common to many South Africans, is perhaps reflected in the physical traits of Mandela’s parents. He had indeed described his father as a tall, dark-skinned man, characteristics more common to his Bantu ancestors; and he probably inherited from his mother his light complexion and his features that make him resemble many San people.
This mixture is also found in his language, Xhosa, which has probably borrowed many clicks from the Khoisan languages, those sounds that contribute to making the Xhosa language, as Mandela puts it, harmonious. One of these sounds appears at the beginning of the name of the town where Mandela spent his childhood, Qunu.
References:
http://www.southafrica.info/mandela/origins-centre-150306.htm#.Uu89RdLoxyw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg4Fp-A7IRw
Traditional education
Outside of school, the traditional education of the young Xhosa is carried out through observation of society and of life in nature. As in many other African cultures, one imitates the behavior of adults in order to understand; one does not ask them questions.
Training for the world of tomorrow also consists in practicing, with other children, “Dlala ‘Nduku,” the stick fighting of the Nguni peoples. This is a combat sport intended for the young. Shaka, the great Zulu emperor, is said to have been a great specialist at it at the age of 11³. Teaching is also complemented by listening to tales that convey values.
Reference: Coetzee Marié-Helen, Zulu stick fighting: a socio-historical overview, in In Yo: Journal of Alternative Perspective
Philosophy of Ubuntu
Mandela said he was raised in the philosophy of Ubuntu, which he illustrated as follows:
“A traveler in a foreign country who stopped in a village would not have to ask for food or water. Once he stopped, the villagers would give him food and keep him company. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it has several others. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. But it should be done so that the community around you is improved.”
Ubuntu is a Nguni word, although the same concept exists in other languages.
It is a philosophical concept that has been translated as a kind of “African communalism,” and which is illustrated by the phrase “we are, therefore I am.” That is to say that a person is defined only by his or her belonging to a community. It is also associated with notions of brotherhood, honesty, empathy, humility, forgiveness, sharing, etc.⁴
Circumcision among the Thembus
At 16, Nelson Mandela was circumcised. He then received the name Dalibunga, meaning “founder of the Bhunga”⁵.
Among the Thembus, a man is considered to be one who has been circumcised, has lived in seclusion while his wound healed, and has undergone a ceremony in which he is presented to the crowd and offered gifts.
No Xhosa can be considered a man if he is not circumcised. After his circumcision, the young man is fully accepted into the sphere of adults, whom he can associate with and deal with on an equal footing. It is only at that moment that he can claim the right to marry a woman.
The age at which a child must undergo circumcision is not fixed. The decision belongs to him, unless his father must pay the costs of the ceremony. In Nelson Mandela’s case, it was the regent Jongintaba who made this decision.
Reference: Ngxamingxa A.N., The function of circumcision among the Xhosa-speaking tribes in historical perspective, in: De Jager, E.J., ed. Man: anthropological essays presented to O.F. Raum. Cape Town, South Africa, C. Struik, 1971. 183-204.
Xhosa marriage
The traditional Xhosa marriage proposal must come from the young man or from someone else on his behalf, but never from the young woman.
Before the 1960s, the young man’s family alone chose the bride. This was in fact the case with the regent Jongintaba, who chose a wife for his son Justice and for Nelson Mandela. Both fled this custom, which soon disappeared, to settle in Johannesburg.
The lobola (bridewealth) must be as low as possible, without exceeding a minimum threshold of about eight head of cattle.
Engagement is a concept that is not really established in Xhosa country, but it is assumed that the future marriage becomes official after payment of the first part of the bridewealth. Only sexual relations that did not break virginity were formerly allowed between future spouses. Nowadays, only engaged children are not allowed to have sexual relations that violate virginity.
The married woman must provide descendants, be devoted to her husband, perform all the household tasks, watch over all the girls of the family, and adopt the customs and the ancestors of her husband’s family.
She must also wear dresses falling to the ankle and go out with her head covered, otherwise her attitude will be considered provocative and dishonorable; she must learn a ritual language allowing her to avoid calling the older men of her husband’s lineage by their real names; she must avoid at all costs approaching her father-in-law’s hut or belongings; she must not pass in front of a hut when going from one hut to another but instead pass between the huts; she must also avoid, out of respect for the ancestors and the elders of her husband, going into the kraal reserved for cattle and into the courtyard of the homestead; finally she will be subject to food taboos, such as the head of a sheep, reserved for the head of the homestead.
The married man, for his part, must provide the whole family with a roof, clothing, and food. Thus it would be a dishonor for a man if his wife went to buy food outside the family; his authority cannot be challenged by his wife, who must always support him in his decisions.
The man must treat his wife well, under penalty of divorce or being brought before the council of elders. Just as the woman must take care of the girls of society, the man plays the same role with young boys.
He is the sole representative of the family at all official events and must perform the tasks requiring the greatest physical strength, such as plowing. His infidelity is tolerated if he properly takes care of his family.
Reference: E. J. De Jager, Traditional Xhosa marriage in the rural areas of the Ciskei, South Africa, in: De Jager, E.J., ed. Man: anthropological essays presented to O.F. Raum. Cape Town, South Africa, C. Struik, 1971. 160-182.
¹ Fisher R., 2007, Race, Jacana Media, p. 89
² Peires J., 1982, Berkeley: University of California Press, p. 18
³ Ritter, E.A., 1960, Shaka Zulu: The Rise of the Zulu Empire, London: Longmans, p. 14
⁴ More, M. P., 2008, Philosophy in South Africa under and after apartheid, in Kwasi Wiredu, A Companion to African Philosophy, p. 56
⁵ Name given to the traditional consultative council of the Transkei
