Sibe nengxoxo noMnumzane Bongani Dube owazalwa ngonyaka ka 1963 kuNovemba ngosuku lweshumi nanye, wazalelwa endaweni yaseNdwedwe esigodini sakwaHlophe eduze nomuzi wakwaShembe eHhomisi. Ubaba uDube uxoce ngokugcinwa kwesiko lwengane enobulili obuhlukile kunezinye ekhaya njengokuthi uma intombazane izalwe yodwa phakathi kwezingane zabafana noma eyomfana ezalwe yodwa emantombazaneni. Kunenkolelo yokuthi ingane yentombazane uma iyodwa ezinganeni zabafana kuvamise ukuthi ihluphe futhi kufanele kube yiyona eyenzelwa isiko kuqala ekhaya. Lokhu abanye abantu bakuthatha njengokuzalwa kwamawele ekhaya.
Kuqala abantu babewagcina amasiko futhi bevamise ukuziqaphela izinto ezifanele ukuthi bazigcine. Namanje kukhona abazigcinayo kodwa akusafani nakuqala ngoba abantu bakuqala babekholelwa kakhulu emasikweni. Futhi abanye babefuyile uma benza izinto babethatha khona emfuyweni. Kwenzeke uma umuntu enengane yentombaze eyodwa ezinganeni zabafana. Kuqalwe ngayo uma kwenziwa izinto zokugcinela amasiko engane. Ingane yintombazane kufanele yenzelwa imbuzi kuqala yokuyikhulisa. Bese kulandeliswa ngembuzi yomhlonyane, umhlonyane yilapho usuke ubikela abantu abadala ukuthi umntwana usengene esigabeni sokukhula acelwe ukuthi abheke ingane. Leyo mbuzi abantu besilisa babengayidli.
Umntwana uyacelelwa emadlozini ukuthi akhishwe igazi ngoba usuke enegazi eliningi ngoba usuke eyedwa intombazane. Umhlonyana uhlobo oluthile lwesihlahla. Lomuthi umhlonyana wawuthathwa uhlanganiswe nomhlanga ugxotshwe intombazane yiwona ezobe iwusebenzisa ngenkathi igoyile. Kuqala kwakukholelwa ekuthini uma intombazane iqala ukungena ezinsukweni zayo kwakufanele ikhiphe ikhambi emzimbeni. Yingakho uma intombazane uma yenzelwa umhlonyana kumele ihlale indlini igoye isebenzise umhlonyana. Kuphinde futhi yemuliswe ngenkomo. Umemulo kusuke phela kukhuliswa khona intombazane kuthiwa ubani usekhulile. Usengakwazi ngisho ukuyogana emzini. Abanye umemulo bavamise ukuthi bawenze intombazane isiyogana. Ukwenzela ingane yakho zonke lezinto usuke wenzela ukthi ingabi nayo inkinga uma isikhulile.
Uma kungeyomfana iyakhuliswa kuthi ngenkathi isisina esigcaweni inikwezwe isihlangu sayo kanye nomqhele wayo umfana akubukhuni kakhulu njengentombazane. Intombazane kuningi eyenzelwa khona futhi okufuna ukuthi ukugcine. Kubalulekile ukuthi ukugcine ngoba uma ungakugcini kuvamise ukuthi umntwana kumhluphe ekuhambeni kwesikhathi.
English Summary
There are lot of customs that some family observe especially when there is a new child in the family. Here we are looking at a family that have children but one of them is of different sex e.g. one girl among three boys or one boy among three girls. Some people believe that it is very important to perform a certain or to keep all the customs that are connected with that particular sex. For instance, girls have to go through at least three traditional customs in their lifetime before marriage that is when they start their periods a certain custom is observed, the family have to also slaughter a goat for coming of age of a girl and umemulo is when the parents thank the girl for respecting them and this is when they slaughter a cow.
They say it is important when you observe this custom to start with the latter sex because it is believed that ancestors are more concerned about that individual and if you don’t observe this it is strongly believe that that child will be sickly and problematic. For boys, they go through one traditional custom of coming of age. Back in the days, most people observed this because they had a lot of livestock compared to now when most people have to buy goat or cattle.
By: Nqobile Mdabe
Siyabonga Nqobile nini Bab’Dube.