It is a new year and I have started it limping. The
limping is so bad that I am walking like i Ntsayiza (Intsayiza ayo
bodi ku boda umlenze) because the leg in pain gets left far behind when I
take a step forward.
But it is not the limping that worries me it is the reason for my limping. I
feel that my body has failed me. How can such a flimsy thing do this to ME?
Does this know who I am. I am a 1.82 metre tall, 100kg giant.
The limping has left me asking myself why have I gone so
soft. Has the glittering light of the City of Gold taken my
masculinity?
While hanging my laundry over the weekend, a thorn stabbed me in
the foot. The pain that followed is beyond my imagination. I knelled
expecting to find my flesh torn apart and blood pumping out.
To my surprise, it was something small.For something that small it sure could hurt. I am talking about the pain
that move from your toes to your brain in a matter of seconds. It was
worse than labour pains. It was hell.
This hell of a pain came from a small thorn that fell of some
flowery tree like plant. How can this paralyse me with pain.
I am used to much greater pain. When I was a boy I used to hunt.
I used to step on these flowery thorns with easy barefoot. Thorns from a
big trees did not deter me from catching wild animals or
running away from a swarm of bees.
I used to crush them rub my feet against the stony road and continue with my
journey.
Has the limping made me a wimp? Can I blame it on age, is it the
change of life style or is the accumulation of the little cents I get
from the capitalists?
Kalipile Mgevane blamed it on the diet. "
zezi-yogurt
nezi ice-cream. Wagqibela nini ukutya iinkobe?" he said.
Mgevane
further said "Akukho
nto eya ezihlunwini. Bubuswiti namanzi qha. Emvakoko uyichama yonke
loonto." and Babalwa Nhando was
quick to agree to that statement.
If eating yogurt and ice- cream are viewed as luxury to
many including me, does this mean the change in lifestyle and diet has made me soft?
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Sunday, October 14, 2012
I miss school
When one was young, He never really appreciated school holidays. After two weeks at home I would get irritated and wish that they could reopen.
After just over 6 years of being a tax payer I truly miss those days. I miss being at home chilling and not knowing what do to with myself. I miss waking up at 9am and return to bed.
But most importantly I miss waking up eating soft porridge and wearing my pyjamas all day.
In the past three weeks things have been so hectic, I did not get a chance to do laundry. I also found my self missing school again.
I remembered the day I went to school not wearing proper uniform and my grade 12 English teacher at Hlokoma High School, Miss Ngxale said "my baby you are going to miss this school uniform."
Well she was telling the truth because I really miss wearing wearing uniform. I cannot take it anymore. I wish here at work they can supply me with work suits or uniform.
As I continue to miss High school I need to focus on my other school work. I have to pass this B Tech this year.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Induku entle ikhiwa ezizweni
Ulwaluko, what went wrong again
Luzuko Pongoma
The death of young men due to botched circumcisions at initiation schools in Eastern Cape has been a thorn in side of the cultural practice.
With the intervention of traditional leaders, the numbers seem to have dropped but a new problem is threatening the tradition.
Since 2007, the deaths have dropped to 26 by June this year but another problem has emerged as initiation schools are being seen as places that breed criminals.
The Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders is playing a leading role in restoring the practice to its former status, which is about producing men who are of value to their families, communities and the country.
Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders Nkosi Ngangomhlaba Matanzima said they were “on top of the deaths”.
“The main problem is that those who return to the society are not what is expected of them. They do not add value to the community,” he said.
Matanzima said the problem was that amakrwala (young men who have recently completed the circumcision ritual) were thieves and rapists terrorising their communities.
“They are supposed to be caring for their families, making sure their livestock is well, provide for their families if they are not at school and be helpful to the community at large. With the moral decay in the country they are supposed to be an example, not part of the problem,” said Matanzima.
He said that, as part of the war on moral degeneration in initiation schools, the House of Traditional Leaders had held a meeting with traditional surgeons and doctors (ingcibi na ma Khankatha).
“The meeting was about sharing experience and expertise. We made brochures detailing the responsibilities of parents, the boy going to initiation school, the community, the traditional leaders and the ingcibi ,” he said.
He said that the responsibility of the parents was to make preparations, select an ingcibi and ensure the boy was ready physically and emotionally, did not have sex and did not do bad things that could lead to bad luck while in the school.
Matanzima said the traditional leader had to talk with the boys going to initiation school, and the community had to select the place for the school.
Matanzima said that the tendency of young men loitering at initiation schools had to stop.
“That is where the problem starts. Then they start smoking drugs. Respectable men must go there to monitor the situation, and teach the initiates about their responsibilities when they return home.”
Prof Masilo Lamla, an anthropologist at Walter Sisulu University, said initiation was not about circumcision only and it served as a passage from childhood to adulthood.
Lamla said initiation school served as a force for moral regeneration and should teach boys how to be of value to their communities.
The death of young men due to botched circumcisions at initiation schools in Eastern Cape has been a thorn in side of the cultural practice.
With the intervention of traditional leaders, the numbers seem to have dropped but a new problem is threatening the tradition.
Since 2007, the deaths have dropped to 26 by June this year but another problem has emerged as initiation schools are being seen as places that breed criminals.
The Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders is playing a leading role in restoring the practice to its former status, which is about producing men who are of value to their families, communities and the country.
Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders Nkosi Ngangomhlaba Matanzima said they were “on top of the deaths”.
“The main problem is that those who return to the society are not what is expected of them. They do not add value to the community,” he said.
Matanzima said the problem was that amakrwala (young men who have recently completed the circumcision ritual) were thieves and rapists terrorising their communities.
“They are supposed to be caring for their families, making sure their livestock is well, provide for their families if they are not at school and be helpful to the community at large. With the moral decay in the country they are supposed to be an example, not part of the problem,” said Matanzima.
He said that, as part of the war on moral degeneration in initiation schools, the House of Traditional Leaders had held a meeting with traditional surgeons and doctors (ingcibi na ma Khankatha).
“The meeting was about sharing experience and expertise. We made brochures detailing the responsibilities of parents, the boy going to initiation school, the community, the traditional leaders and the ingcibi ,” he said.
He said that the responsibility of the parents was to make preparations, select an ingcibi and ensure the boy was ready physically and emotionally, did not have sex and did not do bad things that could lead to bad luck while in the school.
Matanzima said the traditional leader had to talk with the boys going to initiation school, and the community had to select the place for the school.
Matanzima said that the tendency of young men loitering at initiation schools had to stop.
“That is where the problem starts. Then they start smoking drugs. Respectable men must go there to monitor the situation, and teach the initiates about their responsibilities when they return home.”
Prof Masilo Lamla, an anthropologist at Walter Sisulu University, said initiation was not about circumcision only and it served as a passage from childhood to adulthood.
Lamla said initiation school served as a force for moral regeneration and should teach boys how to be of value to their communities.
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