THE LONG WALK TO ADULTHOOD

Xhosa youths undergoing traditional initiation to man-hood.

Circumcision is practiced by many different cultures all over Africa. In the predominantly Muslim Northern and Western Africa, circumcision is practiced as a religious rite, while in Eastern and Southern Africa circumcision is considered as a rite of passage into manhood. As an initiation rite, it has been part of the various cultures that practice it for as long as people can remember. Although the different tribes have different circumcision ceremonies, there are still many things that they have in common. A very typical case is the Xhosa ceremony. Before a Xhosa boy is considerd to be a man by the others of his tribe, he has to to go through the initiation of the Khwetha, or circumcision lodge. Otherwise he would still be considered a boy and no girl would consider marrying him.

In his autobiography, A long Walk to Freedom, President Nelson Mandela gave a very moving account of his own initiation. Comic books about Mandela’s life aimed at encouraging young South Africans to read also did potray the riveting story of the ritual initiation experience Madiba underwent.

"You know you are famous when you discover you have become a comic book character," Nelson Mandela joked at the launch of a comic series about his life.

"My life and that of most Xhosa at the time was shaped by custom, ritual and taboo. This was the alpha and omega of our existence and went unquestioned. When I was sixteen, the regent decided that it was time that I became a man. In Xhosa this is achieved through one means only:circumcision."

"In my tradition an uncircumcised male cannot be heir to his fathers wealth, cannot marry or officiate in tribal rituals. an uncircumcised Xhosa man is a contradiction in terms, for he is not considered a man at all but a boy."

As a Xhosa, I count my years as a man from the date of my circumcision.

It is not just a surgical procedure, but a lengthy and elaborate ritual in preparation for manhood.

"The last days of boyhood were spent with other inititiates. The night before circumcision there was a ceremony near our huts with singing and dancing. At dawn when the stars were still in the sky we began our preparation. We bathed in the rivers cold waters, a ritual that signified ...purification before the ceremony."

"Clad only in blanket the boys stood in a row as an elederman began the initiation process...flinching and crying out was a sign of weakness and stigmatized ones manhood. I was determined not to disgrace myself, the group or my guardian. Circumcision is a ritual of bravery... a man must suffer in silence."

I felt as if fire was shooting through my veins, the pain was so intense. I called out "NDIYINDODA" aka I AM A MAN

At the conclusion of the ceremony, we returned to our huts. We were ordered to lie on our backs in the smoky huts, with one leg flat and one leg bent.

We are now "Abakhwetha" aka Initiates into the world of manhood.

Our guardian paint our naked bodies from head to foot in white ocher, turning us into ghosts. the white chalk symbolised our purity. At midnight an attendant aka "Inkhantatha" crept around the hut instructing the boys to leave the hut and go bury their foreskins. The traditional reason for this practise was so that their foreskins would be hidden before wizards could use them for evil purposes.

Text Of Mandelas Initiation Experience and More Information
A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela Click here to purchase the Book