Posted on January 25, 2012

Graduating as a sangoma

At age 17 on 8 September 2007, Mehlwemamba finished his training. He made his way back home where the necessary ceremony was done to accept him back, acknowledge the ancestors that were in him as well as thanking MaZondi for having initiated him. He is quick to point out that adapting to the family and the community again was not easy because being a sangoma still remains a mystery to people. This is also part of the reason he wants to share his experience with people: to shed light on the subject and clarify issues that lead people to think that people like him serve demons.

Mehlwemamba best summarizes the experience by noting the first chant or hymn that his ancestors gave to him as a response to some of the challenges he faced on returning home: "Bayanginuka, bayanginuka bathi ngiwumthakathi, bathi sengiqede abantu, uma ngithi asiye eMbongolwane abavumi. Bayanginuka badlala ngami, bangibona ngoba ngingazele." (They suspect me, they suspect me they say I am a witch. They say I have destroyed people, when I say let us go to Mbongolwane (to throw bones) they refuse. They suspect me, they are messing with me, it is because I have no child?")

Mehlwemamba then started practicing as a sangoma based in eZilozini, Nkandla where he was born. He then tried to go back to school, but that proved impossible as his ancestors wanted him to serve as a healer. He stayed at home working as a sangoma at 17 years of age. Mehlwemamba started finding other ways of developing himself both as a sangoma and as a youngster. That is when he met Mr. Sazi Jericho Mhlongo, the President of the Traditional Healers Association in KwaZulu Natal who soon became one of his mentoring advisors. He also revisited his passion for poetry, specifically ubumbongi (being a praise poet), as it had been clear from an early age that he also had a gift in this regard. He had started praising his father's bulls from an early age and was frequently the one to be called to come into the cattle enclosure and sing praises to the ancestors whenever the family was just about to slaughter a cow. He is now 23 years old and is still serving as a healer who is now based in Durban even though his home base and isigodlo (ancestral temple) is in Nkandla, he is seen a lot in public as Zanele Magwaza Msibi's Imbongi. His dreams are to put his experiences and knowledge about his journey into a book. He is currently seeking advice from mentors and publishers about developing his journal, which he started putting together in 2010 around the subject of ukuthwasa (sangoma initiation), into a book. He says his journal goes all the way back from his father meeting his mother (as told by his parents), their marriage, his birth as Nkosiphendule, his upbringing, his encounter with the spirits, his initiation process, the name 'Mehlwemamba' as well as his move to city life in Durban.

Shattering the myths, the mystery and codes?

I asked him how it is that he is telling his story without his ancestor prohibiting him to do so.
I also probed how he was able to leave isigodlo for the city life and find other work and also the fact that he does not dress in 'traditional' dress like most izangoma do. He replied:

"Idlozi libuswa litshelwe nguwe uma selikungenile ngoba is'khathi samanje asisafani nesakudala. Yize liba nenkani, kuhlanganiswa imithi thizeni litshelwe, linqontshwe. Yingakho uhlale ufunda ngamazwi abekwa ngumphathi uMhlongo emaphepheni noma umuzwe ephendula imibuzo emsakazweni ngoba akunamfihlo, izikhathi zezashintsha." ("Nowadays, unlike in the olden days, an ancestor is ruled and ordered by you once you've accepted it. Although it can be stubborn, there is a selection of muthi that you mix and you command your ancestor and you conquer it. That is also why you always read about our leader, President Mhlongo, in the newspapers or hear him on the radio openly answering questions about such things because there is no secrecy, times have changed.")

I wondered if at all we were not breaking any sacred code by discussing this, as it is common knowledge and practice for traditional healers not to divulge the secrecy around their journey and the ancestral world. I then asked further questions to understand why he wanted to share his story and why he wants to write a book. He said:

"Ukufihla kuyindlela esetshenziswa yilabo abathwasile ukungavezi indlela nobunzima abadlule kubo kube kungemfihlo. Into engase ibe imfihlo futhi nayo hhayi ngokutheni umuthi umuntu osuke engafuni ukuthi waziwe ngoba kusuke kuyisiphiwo sakhe aziphiwele yena yedwa. Kodwa eminye imithi uyayisho ngoba izinyanga azifihlelani imithi; izangoma ezakhiwe ngomona ezifihlelana imithi futhi kungabalulekile ngoba umuntu ungam'tshela umuthi kodwa uma engaphiwe ngeke isebenze. Baphinde babe nomqondo wokufuna isithunzi nokusatshwa bese angaziphathisi okomuntu ngoba eziphakamisa. Yebo eminye imigomo ikhona kodwa kuneminye abayiqhakambisayo ngempakamo. Isangoma siyisangoma ngesikhathi sisebenza, ngale kwalokho zingabantu nje njengabo bonke abantu akukho okuhlukile ngazo. Abantu baze basibandlulule nje ingenxa yendlela esiziphakamisa ngayo. Ukuba yisangoma akusho ukuthi angeke ngiye eMoses Mabhida ngiphathe ivuvuzela yami njengabanye abantu, cha. Ngiwumuntu ngiyay'hamba izindawo ezinjalo."

("Secrecy is used by those that have undergone the initiation to hide the details of the journey they have undergone and the pain that came with it, although there is nothing secretive about it. The only thing that might be secretive, which also does not necessarily have that much secrecy to it, is the special muthi (the recipe) that that person would not want for everyone to know as it is usually their own unique gift. Otherwise other recipes are shared because izinyanga do not hide their muthi; izangoma are the ones who have jealousy and would therefore hide such, which is also useless because even if you disclose your mixture to somebody if they did not receive it as a 'gift' it is not going to work. They then also have this mentality of demanding respect and dignity and then they stop behaving like other human beings because of forging a form of superiority. A sangoma is only a sangoma when he or she is consulting on somebody otherwise they are just as human as everyone else; there's nothing different about them. The reason why people discriminate against us is because of how we claim superiority. Being a sangoma does not mean I cannot go to Moses Mabhida with my vuvuzela and have a good time like any other person. I am also as human as everyone else and I go to such places." )

Apart from wanting to share his biography, Mehlwemamba's decision is also motivated by his desire to educate the society about issues around ukuthwasa - what it means as well as the processes involved. He also seeks to clarify the differences between the different traditional healers and how they operate. Part of it, as an example, involves clarifying the myth that being a sangoma that was initiated under water and emerged with a python makes you a stronger sangoma than one who was initiated in the manner that he was. While most of the content of his writings will be biographical the better part of it will also be his opinion as influenced by his exchanges with other traditional healers that he has come into contact with.


Mehlwemamba - his journey through izibongo

It seems that Mehlwemamba's journey in life is best summarized by the praises that he has been given by those who have witnessed his growth. He is known as: "Inkunzi ebhonge eTulwane, Zonke izithole zamisa imishoba kwaze kwakhuza uMaZondi wathi "kwahlenini mantombazane usethwasa lomtwana". Umabizwa asabele ngekhwela indlondlo enophaphe ekhanda, ngiyinguqunguqu intaba yakwaNtunjambili elingavulwa muntu livulwa uMehlwemamba kuphela, Uma kungenjalo laliyovulwa zinkonjane lakhele izinyosi. Hheyi wemuntu ogqoke ingubo emhlophe yini lento ebomvu esifubeni sakho engathi amalahle omlilo kabhawula? Bathi ngiwusgqatshana esincane esaphelela ecwaka um'misi wey'ntombi ezintathu, untombi zimshaya ngo-private number zimcele uthando noma engasay'funi. Ngiyintuthu ephuma iy'khatha exhibeni kwabo kwaMaGasa unkingana zomndeni nobani ziyomehlela." ("The bull that roared in Tulwane and all the cows raised their tails until MaZondi reprimanded them saying "stop young maidens, this child is still under traditional initiation", the one who is summoned through whistles and responds, an elderly python with a feather on its heard. One that keeps changing but stands tall like the rocks of Ntunjambili, which cannot be opened by anyone else, but Mehlwemamba only. If it weren't like that it would only be opened and penetrated by swallows wherein bees would create a hive. Hey, to you who is wearing white garments, what is this red thing on your chest that resembles red blazing coal? They call me a love portion that vanished into oblivion, the one who stopped three maidens at the same time. The one whom maidens call using privatized numbers for them to propose to him even though he is not interested. I am a smoke that puffs straight high from the dwellings of MaGasa, the one who resembles family problems - those that may happen to just about anyone."

Having delved into Mehlwemamba's journey, next I'll visit one of Mehlwemamba's advisor, Mr. S. J. Mhlongo, in kwaMxhosa in Maphumulo to find out more about the subject of ukuthwasa, and the myths and mysteries around the ancestral world.

Musa Hlatswayo is an Archival Platform correspondent based in KwaZulu-Natal