Q&A with Contralesa president Patekile Holomisa on Inxeba
The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa is up in arms over the movie 'Inxeba (The Wound)'. Chris Barron asked Contralesa honorary president Patekile Holomisa ...
Why?
It violates our cultural rules. Boys being initiated into manhood are taken away from the community to live in the bushes for some time so that they are not in contact with women and with people who don't undergo this particular ritual. For someone to go now and invade that space is a violation of those rules.
Is this kind of secrecy appropriate in a modern, open, democratic society?
It is appropriate. Because it is a practice that is even allowed by the constitution. If the constitution allows us to practise our rituals, then the rules applicable to these rituals have to be respected.
Behind this veil of secrecy a lot of bad things have happened to these boys, haven't they?
This movie is not about that. It's not about the mutilation that has occurred.
How does the movie violate the sanctity of the ritual?
The very fact that somebody decided to go and film what happens there in order to share that information with people from whom this practice is hidden...
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