Sex is the Opium of the People

15. Personal Truth

(Reflections of the Way of the Outsider)

By Deon-Simphiwe Skade

Let no one deceive You.

Everything is Personal.

14. Knowledge

(Reflections on the Way of the Outsider)

by uMonde iNxele


Knowledge is the Cure that will Poison us, we Outsiders!

Signal Hill, Cape Town - 27-12-2013

13. Thug Life

Reflections on The Way of The Outsider 

by uMonde iNxele

I was at maRhadebe's on Monday. She and I were in the living room discussing a short story of hers when Bra Stiqs walked in. He brought updates on the progress of our other projects, and he had a few papers with him. Bra Stiqs never ceases to emphasize the importance of papers and writing things down.

"Writing is a mystery," he'd whisper in awe-inspired tones. "The Laws that Moses was given, they were written in stone. Reading and writing are one of the things that link us to the Divine".

Just after Bra Stiqs sat down a little boy walked in. I began to notice him when he hugged Bra Stiqs, who was sitting next to me. The boy looked anxious. Then he came to me; the hug was awkward. After hugging maRhadebe he just lingered. He was not care-free and smiling but nervous, and his voice was a bit distorted by fear. It was the first day of school holidays, the Sun had risen, yet there was no urge in the boy to go and play outside. MaRhadede told him to pick up some papers in the garden and put them in the rubbish bin at the back. When the boy disappeared, She delivered a discourse on the importance of a stern upbringing.

After a while, the boy returned and just hung around. He asked if he could watch television. I felt like shouting "run, run from here! Go outside and play in the Sun!"

The matter refused to leave my mind; what bothered me most was the awkward hug. The hug itself is not the problem; the problem is that it was not spontaneous as an expression of affection. I felt that his hug was not an inclination arising from his vital centre but a habit drilled in through the head. It is part of the discipline at home to hug everyone present when you walk into the house.

From the point of view of classical Psychoanalysis, the boy is in the "latency phase" of psycho-sexual development. Psychoanalysis is a psychological science that endeavours to shed Light on Unconscious human behaviour. The "latency phase" of development is roughly around the time of primary school. The boy "acquires culturally regarded skills and values. The child has evolved from a baby with primitive drives to a reasonable human being with complex feelings like shame, guilt and disgust".*

From the point of view of Erich Fromm's brand of Psychoanalysis, the submissive anxiety in the boy is a sign that in his struggle to become what he is, he has been defeated by parental authority. The anxiety is not an Unconscious objection to the order to hug, because the hug itself is not traumatic. Rather, the anxiety arises out of the Conscious or Unconscious realization that parental authority is absolute. Even if he doesn't feel like hugging he has to hug, because it's family rules. The other side of the struggle to become what one is is the struggle not to become what one is not, and this involves not giving a hug if one doesn't feel like giving a hug.

Those that are familiar with the philosopher, Tupac Shakur, know that for him THUG LIFE was an acronym for The Hate U Gave Little Infants Fucked Everyone. His point was that you have a recipe for a psychic disaster when children are defeated by parental authority in the struggles to become what they are. When the will of the child is broken and replaced by the will of parental authority you get defeated children at best. At worst, society will have to be prepared for Thug Life.

Reference: * en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latency_stage  

The Case of Medical Male Circumcision, Lost Lives and Cultural Hegemony

by Khomotso Ntuli

The time of the year in which a number of South African communities send their young males to traditional initiation schools so that they may come back as “men”, brings about a great deal of questions and commentary. Government, NGOs and civil society have all raised concerns over the number of lives that are lost annually through the traditional initiation practices.

According to an article by Sapa that appeared in The Times on 16 July 2014, the following statistics were reported for the winter initiation season: “Over 180 boys have been admitted to hospital and 35 have died so far since the initiation season started".

Furthermore, a report by the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities indicated that the 2013 death toll at initiation schools in Eastern Cape was 83 fatalities. A further 54 565 initiates were hospitalised due to botched traditional initiation surgeries. Limpopo province reported just over half the number of hospital admissions compared to the Eastern Cape at 35 621.

Some people may ask: What is it exactly in this day and age that makes young males resolute on undergoing circumcision without anaesthetic for example, or antibiotics and general medicinal intervention when infection occurs? Well, there are a number of reasons why some people would continue doing this, in the same way as the Jewish communities would have reasons around the practice of circumcision. These reasons may not be embraced by some the people living outside these cultural settings, but they have a historical basis nonetheless. One of the recent arguments advocating for the continuation of circumcision has been that circumcising reduces chances of sexually transmitted infections, which is a much needed intervention in the context of our country’s HIV and AIDS prevalence. One would however argue that there is more to this than the health aspect, which is usually brought up in a relatively secondary manner of these discussions.

Worth noting for anyone about to engage in the male traditional circumcision versus the medical alternative debate, are the historical contexts and the clarity needed in handling such a debate. Traditional circumcision is not just a surgical procedure, but part of an important and long standing cultural ritual that different communities go through as rite of passage into manhood.

Historical context

One has always found it interesting to note that some rituals that are found in the bible, made their way to a number of countries in which they are either not clearly documented or recorded at all. Circumcision for boys is obviously one of these rituals. Circumcision for women, or what tends to assume the genital mutilation tag, is an equally important issue, but one to be discussed another day. So why did men need to be circumcised in the past?

Before I respond to the question, I would like us to look at the current meaning of circumcision. One stands to be corrected on this point. In the South African context, there are very few places where the importance of male circumcision as the rite of passage to manhood is as vital as in the culture of amaXhosa, baPedi, maTsonga and amaNdebele among others. Not only it is important for the young boys’/men’s esteem to undergo the ritual, it also helps them find a place in their community. Having gone through the traditional initiation process gives the initiates a kind of stature that allows them to participate in important family issues among other things. If a young man has not gone through this ritual, marriage to a girl that is umXhosa for an example, tends to also be a bit difficult as he is not seen as complete man.

Our minister of sports, Fikile Mbalula, had to go through the initiation process at a relatively advanced age of 34 amid taunts. Mbalula, the former ANC Youth League leader, may be comforted by the fact that God’s covenant with the biblical Abraham required that all male Jewish children be circumcised. This meant that Abraham also had to undergo this ritual at the very advanced age of 99. So, late circumcision is not bad.

The reasons for Minister Mbalula’s need to undergo initiation at the time he did may be known only to him. It would be fair to respect the choice he made around this matter. There is however something worth learning from the response by president of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa, Patekile Holomisa, to a Sowetan article by Zenoyise Madikwa where he said the following of the minister: "In the Xhosa tradition boys are not allowed into positions of leadership. They are not even allowed to sit with men. I am puzzled that he [the minister] was allowed to get married."

On the contrary, the case of Zulu men not undergoing this ritual after inkosi uShaka ruled it out as one that contributed to temporary loss of men for war purposes, is one that may bring an alternative view to the notion of manhood.

Why cultural hegemony is a necessary lens to look through

Taking into account the fact that there have been a number of deaths related to circumcision that take place in traditional initiation schools, some may suggest Medical Male Circumcision as the best way forward, without of course taking into account the fact that this plays into the continuous undermining of African culture and traditions. Specifically here, is one’s view that it’s important to respect people’s cultural preferences, when it’s said that traditional circumcision as a rite of passage is not the same as medical male circumcision.

Perhaps it’s important to be cognisant of the fact that it is almost impossible to critique the flaws of black cultural practices without running into some problems. There is a potential threat that such a critique may play into a discourse that finds a lot that is wrong in African culture, without the same kind of critique being applied to other cultures, especially European ones. It is clear that there are a number of people who do not appreciate the importance of traditional institutions that are tasked with the initiation of young boys into manhood. The fact that institutions responsible for this traditional practice are not appreciated in the face of a predominantly Eurocentric-oriented country, and that deaths of initiates occur, simply adds fuel to the fire.

One is of the view that there is obviously a lot in our traditional practices that is patriarchal and that there are other issues that need to be looked at through a contemporary lens. But one should warn against the views of those who make it to the “thought leader” status of newspapers, who by virtue of such a big platform, tend to shape popular opinion which should not necessarily be used to decide the courses that communities are to take.

It is with this in mind that one would challenge those who may be quick to wish to replace traditional circumcision practices with medical ones, to first take note of the fact that communities have the right to practice traditional rituals as they are part of their culture. These are rights protected by the Constitution of our country and are worth respecting. If we, as a society or as government wish to help, especially in curbing the number of deaths, it is important to engage with traditional leaders with a view to collaboratively arrive at a solution. There are clearly issues of accreditation that are crucial in preventing bogus iiIngcibi (traditional circumcision surgeons) from exacerbating the issue.

One would suggest that it is not fair that those who do not understand the need for traditional circumcision simply propose that people get surgically circumcised and then continue with the other part (which has to do with teachings personal conduct of manhood and other responsibilities of an initiate towards his community) in the bush. Circumcision is not an isolated surgical operation, but an integral part of a people’s way of life. Whether it is a concept of manhood that adds or takes away appreciation for gender equality is an issue for a different piece of writing. What is important here is to reiterate that with our wish to curb the loss of lives due to illegal activities and not the circumcision practice itself, we may do well if we could engage with traditional leaders. This way we would guarantee that we put in place measures that will ensure that only accredited traditional surgeons get to circumcise our youth. This intervention may help a lot of us avoid falling into a view that has ready-made solutions for people’s cultures and traditions, simply because we feel they are “outdated”.

About the Author: Khomotso Ntuli is the founder and facilitator of Bush Dialogues, a dialogue platform that looks at issues around human rights and active citizenship. He can be reached at mmotsodemi(at)gmail.com

Carl Collison writes about Palesa Motsumi's Journey into African Literature

The article above was first published in the Cape Towner of 25 September 2014. Its reproduction here is done for the purpose of
widening the reach of this location-specific publication and for spreading messages around the arts in general. Text and picture: ©Carl Collison.

New Heroes

by Deon-Simphiwe Skade

The 2014 Open Book Festival came and went with a successful turnout, considering of course that books sales have been declining in recent years. This positive outcome is worth commending, bearing in mind that Open Book is only a few years old compared to other long established literary festivals.

Perhaps what is of concern with literary festivals however is the minimal numbers of black audience. It would be very interesting to know, through research of course, why there is not nearly enough black people attending these types of events. Assuming that the reasons for the poor turnout is an economic one, for example, I believe it is not nearly enough reason for the poor turnout. For I know of many young and old professionals within the black population that do indeed read and support other art events in general.

Perhaps there is a golden opportunity for the literary festival sponsors and organisers to get other segments of the South Africa society to attend book fairs. Also, as suggested by prolific writer and festival participant, Thando Mgqolozana, these book festivals should in fact be hosted in townships as well.

Nonetheless, a shift in mindsets by introducing a Comic Fest, as done by the organisers of the Open Book, proves that innovation usually brings in tremendous results that feed into integration and general growth of the arts. It is precisely for this reason I wish to write solely about the comic book segment of the Open Book Festival, from a specific point of view of course.

The Comic Fest attracted a large number of illustrators and comic material creators. The Homecoming Centre, which is where the comic creatives were housed, was teeming with people who either came to buy the many books that were on display, or to have the authors sign their books. Many other patrons came to buy and even learn more about the comic books. I was one such person... 

CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE HERE.