Across sub-Saharan Africa, hundreds of thousands of boys and young men participate in initiation ceremonies every year. The specifics of these ceremonies vary, but they typically involve youths spending weeks living near-naked in temporary shelters with minimal sleep, food, and water. These traditions have deep cultural roots and mark the transition of boys into manhood.
Xhosa Initiation Ceremony
The South African constitution protects traditional cultural mores, while legislation forbids practices that are unsafe, injurious, or violations of the rights of children. Within South Africa and many other countries, courageous campaigners seek to reconcile these ambitions.
Male Circumcision: A Significant Rite
Certain African cultural groups, such as the Yoruba and the Igbo of Nigeria, customarily circumcise their infant sons. Amongst the Serer ethnoreligious group of the Senegambia region, the Ndut initiation rite holds Serer religious, cultural, and educational significance. The procedure is also practiced by some cultural groups or individual family lines in Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and southern Africa.
For some of these groups, circumcision appears to be purely cultural, done with no particular religious significance or intention to distinguish members of a group. For others, circumcision might be done for purification, or it may be interpreted as a mark of subjugation. The Xhosa community practice circumcision as a sacrifice, with young boys announcing to their family members when they are ready for circumcision by singing.
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Ancient Egyptian Circumcision Scene
Amongst the Serer ethnoreligious group of Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, and Guinea-Bissau, the Ndut holds Serer religious, cultural, and educational significance.
Prevalence of Circumcision in Africa
Circumcision is prevalent among 92% of men in North Africa and around 62% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Studies evaluating the complications due to traditional male circumcision have found rates varying from 35% in Kenya to 48% in South Africa.
Historically, circumcision in Morocco was performed by barbers but is now done by medical surgeons. In Ghana, the male child circumcision rate is around 95%, with operations performed in hospitals and clinics. Nigerian culture favors circumcising baby boys when they are aged between eight and forty days.
In Rwanda, the government wishes to fight HIV and has introduced a "safe" PrePex device which claims to involve no pain nor bleeding. However, complications, including death, have occurred after a few circumcisions.
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Traditional Practices and Modern Context
In addition to traditional circumcision, the men of Africa enjoyed "benefits" such as young men became members of the warrior class, and were free to date and marry. In the modern context in East Africa, the physical element of male circumcision remains (in the societies that have historically practiced it) but without most of the other accompanying rites, context, and programs.
For many, the operation is now performed in private on one individual, in a hospital or doctor's office, with anesthesia often used. However, some tribes insist on circumcision in a group ceremony as a test of courage. Amongst the Gikuyu (Kikuyu) people of Kenya, Embu people of Kenya and the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania, male circumcision has historically been the graduation element of an educational program which taught tribal beliefs, practices, culture, religion, and history to youth.
The circumcision ceremony was very public and required a display of courage under the knife to maintain the honor and prestige of the young man and his family. The only form of anesthesia was a bath in the cold morning waters of a river. Despite the loss of the rites and ceremonies that accompanied male circumcision in the past, the physical operation remains crucial to personal identity and pride, and acceptance in society.
Uncircumcised men in these communities risk being "outed" and subjected to ridicule as "boys." There have been many cases of forced circumcision of men from such communities who are discovered to have escaped the ritual.
S.Africa circumcision ritual: a dangerous route to manhood
Abongile Maqegu recovering from circumcision
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Voluntary Circumcision Projects
In 2015, the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics completed a voluntary circumcision project in three traditionally non-circumcising Tanzanian regions, circumcising 400,000 men in collaboration with the National AIDS Control Programme. Efforts are being made to scale up circumcision where there is low prevalence of circumcision, including regions such as Iringa, Tabora, Mbeya, and others.
Circumcision in Uganda
In Uganda, circumcision is performed for religious, cultural, and medical reasons, mainly to reduce the transmission of HIV and sexually transmitted illnesses. Ethnic groups such as Sebei, Bagisu, Baamba, and Bakonzo practice traditional male circumcision. As of 2012, 70% of Ugandan men were not circumcised, with around 10% belonging to groups which practice traditional male circumcision.
The age range for eastern Ugandan candidates is relatively older (14-18 years) than that of western Uganda (2-15 years). The cost of traditional male circumcision varies from UGX 5,000 to 40,000 (approximately US$2.00 to 16.00), with the candidate's parents responsible for the payment.
Challenges and Risks
The human devastation left in the wake of these traditions is horrifying. A recent report by South Africa’s Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities calculated that in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces alone at least 419 boys have died since 2008, and more than 456,000 initiates have been hospitalised with complications. Deaths commonly occur through dehydration, blood loss, shock-induced heart failure or septicaemia.
And there are estimated to be two total penile amputations for every death. Countless numbers of participants are left with permanent scarring or deformity. Urologists describe seeing patients whose penises have become so infected and gangrenous they literally drop off.
Most ceremonies are nominally voluntary, but it is questionable how easy it would be to resist the cultural pressure to take part. One young South African who spoke out after his penis was amputated following a botched circumcision was severely beaten as punishment for shaming the ceremony. When women elders condemn what is happening to their sons, they are vilified by tribal leaders.
Authorities acknowledge the scale of the problem. The Western Cape cultural affairs executive member Dr Nomafrench Mbombo has said the deaths across South Africa should be seen as nothing less than a national crisis. The South African Human Rights Commission calls it “endemic carnage”. Various laws have been passed or proposed, and some money has been found to support medical circumcision as an alternative, but still boys die by the dozen.
Perhaps most shockingly of all, we have no idea of the true scale of the problem. South Africa has relatively well-developed governance and public health systems, but many initiation schools are unlicensed and illegal, so the full toll of death and injury may be hidden. In other countries tragedies simply go uncounted.
Nudism and Naturism in Africa
Nudism, often referred to as naturism, is a lifestyle and philosophy that embraces nudity in communal and natural settings. While it may be more commonly associated with Western countries, nudism has quietly found its place in various corners of the globe, and for some cultures in Africa, it has always been a norm. In Africa, as in other parts of the world, nudism is often accompanied by a philosophy that emphasizes body acceptance, equality, and a harmonious relationship with the environment.
Many nudists believe that shedding societal expectations and clothing fosters a genuine sense of self and a deeper connection with nature. Nudism-friendly cultures in Africa vary in their levels of acceptance and historical practices. It’s important to note that while these cultures may have practices or traditions that involve nudity, modern influences and changing societal norms could be shaping their attitudes toward clothing.
If you’re a nudist and looking for naturist-friendly destinations in Africa, several beautiful locations cater to those seeking a clothing-optional experience. Staring or looking at others is considered rude. Additionally, there are some helpful tips for going nude outside. Take enough sunscreen.
Remember that while these destinations offer opportunities for a nudist-friendly experience, it’s important to research local customs, regulations, and etiquette before visiting.
The Role of Traditional Healers
Spiritual healing has a deep tradition in South Africa: it is a complex religious-medical-spiritual phenomenon. Traditional healers in South Africa are involved in the treatment of physical and psychological illnesses of the client, divination, conducting birth or death ceremonies, protection against witchcraft, and the preservation of myths, stories, and tradition.
It is reported that there are up to ten times more traditional healers in South Africa than trained medical doctors. Up to 60% of ordinary South Africans consult a traditional healer when they are ill, very often in combination with a visit to a modern doctor.
For a harmonious life, regular sacrifices to ancestors are necessary, which is the work of healers; the cult of ancestors plays a key role in healing, with food and animals being the most commonly sacrificed. Healers also prepare traditional muti - this is where healing meets witchcraft, and the line is very uncertain and often crossed.
Initiated healers are able to summon the spirit of a particular ancestor and let it enter them; they can then effectively divine, interpret dreams, prophesy and heal. Trance is invoked by drumming and dancing. In trance, the person of the healer recedes into the background, making way for the spirit that is working. The goal of the treatment is to harmonize the relationship between the patient and the ancestral spirits or spirits in general. It is divined, for example, by throwing bones.
Initiation Rituals and Modernization
Abongile Maqegu, 20, covered in white clay mud, and with his penis wrapped in leaves, sits in a hut in South Africa recovering from his circumcision -- a traditional ritual that can prove fatal. The pain is an essential part of the experience. "You must go through that pain to show that you are a man," he told AFP.
Maqegu is one of thousands of youths from the Xhosa ethnic group attending this year's annual winter initiation schools across Eastern Cape province. After his foreskin is cut off by a tribal elder using a knife, he is kept in the small thatched rondavel hut with two other initiates for up to four weeks, with a "bush doctor" present at all times monitoring their wounds.
The initiates are allowed no contact with women and spend their time playing cards, applying mud, and stoking the smoky fire to try to keep warm. The ritual is revered and guarded by the Xhosa people, but the unhygienic conditions -- and abuse by some initiation schools -- exact a heavy toll.
At least 11 youths have already died during this southern hemisphere winter in Eastern Cape, according to provincial officials, while the government says several hundred have died nationwide in initiation schools since 1995. Often the cause is infection from a botched circumcision, which can lead to penis amputation surgery.
In another grass-thatched hut, 20-year-old Fezikhaya Tselane, who has just returned from his circumcision rites in the remote bush, says, "In our Xhosa culture, if you don't go through traditional circumcision you are not recognised as a man. Now I can marry, have my own house and kids and not depend on my parents."
Mxolisi Dimaza, chairman of the Eastern Cape provincial health committee, said authorities were determined to curb injuries and deaths in the initiation schools. The province has hired 35 4x4 vehicles to patrol initiation practices in a region of steep hills, dirt roads, and rough tracks. It has also passed a law setting out a minimum age of 18, and establishing a registry of accredited bush doctors and schools.
Dimaza appealed for any initiates suffering from infections or ill-health to go immediately to hospital, adding that parents should not feel social pressure for their children to have traditional circumcisions. For one bush doctor, proper care should mean that initiates are able to experience the ritual in a safe and deeply spiritual manner. "You have to be careful and take good care, otherwise the wound gets sceptic," said Lukholo Marhenene, 21, who has been nursing initiates for three years.
Religious Beliefs in South Africa
Zulu is a traditional South African religion that has a number of deities commonly associated with animals or natural phenomena. The supreme god and creator of the world is called Unkulunkulu (translated: the greatest). The god Unkulunkulu was born from a huge reed swamp called Uhlanga - from this swamp humans are also said to have originated.
Unkulunkulu is sometimes associated with the sky god Umvelinqangi (translated as He who was in the beginning). Unkulunkulu is the source of all existence; other known deities include Nomhoyi (goddess of rivers), Nomkhubulwane (goddess of rain and rainbows), Ngungi (god of blacksmiths) and Nyanga (goddess of the moon).
There are also multiple deities in the religion of the South African San. One of the most important rituals in the San religion is the attainment of trance through dance - while the people in the circle chant and clap rhythmically, the dancers in their midst dance wildly. Hallucinogens are not necessary, but some initiates use natural hallucinogens for greater effect. The San live in Botswana, and marginally in Namibia and South Africa.
Circumcision Rates in Africa
| Country | Circumcision Rate |
|---|---|
| North Africa | 92% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 62% |
| Ghana | 95% (Male Child) |
| South Africa | 44.7% (Estimated) |
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