This week, Siyayinqoba Beat It! looks at how certain cultural norms and practices related to sexuality contribute to the risk of HIV infection. In our first insert Lungisani Dangazele, a grade nine pupil from the Eastern Cape, discusses “removing the clay”, a practice which is connected to Xhosa initiation. Being initiated, he says, makes him feel respected, like “a man amongst men.” Lungisani undertook to “cleanse the clay” whereby young men are encouraged to have sex with a girl who is not their girlfriend after being circumcised. Lungisani says he was never told about HIV, STIs or condoms, he was just encouraged to “cleanse the clay”, so he met a girl and had sex with her without using a condom.
Morris Qinela, a traditional nurse who looks after initiates, is concerned about such customs which lead to risky sexual behavior in a period of HIV prevalence. He explains that the custom is associated with removing the bad luck usually with those who come back from initiation school. Qinela believes that the boys who go to the mountain healthy should return home healthy. The boys at the local school have mixed ideas though, and a heated discussion takes place between those who are protective of the custom and another who suggests that it is optional and condoms may be used. As for the “random” girls who may in fact be someone else’s girlfriends, one boy says that, “At that moment, to me, she is a ‘take-away.’”
Morris believes that while traditions such as circumcision should not change, customs such as “removing the clay” should come to an end because, “this custom is accompanied by HIV,” and involves “using” women. Dr Trevor Majoro agrees: “We shouldn’t hide behind tradition because tradition is there to unite people, build and develop a nation.” To achieve this we should not encourage risky behaviour which may expose people to HIV but rather encourage healthy living.
Another tradition practiced in parts of South Africa is polygamy. Ntsimbu Mgcobo, the Chief of the Macala Tribe in Msundze Reserve, has two wives and is the father of nine children. He practices polygamy like his father did and believes is it is “a good thing … the community welcomes you with respect … they think of you as a real man …” Having married his first wife, Ntsimbu began dating other women but he began picking up diseases and passing them on to his wife. Ntsimbu’s wife subsequently agreed to his taking on a second wife.
“Polygamy is respectable,” according to Sazi Mhlongo, the President of the Traditional Healers in KZN. He says there are rules to try and ensure polygamists do not do as they please but stay within the polygamist relationship and keep the family at “peace”. Sazi worries though that today’s youth will not follow these rules. Ntsimbu’s admission reveals how having multiple partners can lead to diseases spreading but he does not use condoms with his legal wives because, “You do not trust each other when you use condoms.”
Sazi is trying to counteract some of these dangers by teaching that it is important for both parties to have tested for HIV before sleeping together and to use a condom if there is no knowledge of HIV status. Dr Majoro remains concerned that even though there are rules, we cannot be sure they are being followed, while the tendency to justify things on the basis of what our forefathers did means we forget to look at the present and “what we want for ourselves”. Traditions and culture are an important part of identity building – but this need must be reconciled with the real needs of a country in the midst of the HIV epidemic.