Living in KwaZulu-Natal it’s not unusual to see sangoma’s walking along the streets dressed in their traditional attire. Wearing skirts, shawls draped over their shoulders, and beads in their hair and criss-crossed across their chests, sangoma’s are fairly easy to recognise. What we don’t always think about though when we spot these women is what their attire means. The amabhayi, … Read more
Ten-year-old Keegan Baker is so passionate about the Zulu culture that he wears his traditional attire as often as he can, his mother says. A video of Keegan has gone viral on Facebook. In it he is seen dancing and singing to two Zulu songs for his mother and her friends at their home in … Read more
To most people it’s just a bit of tabloid gossip, but this story of marital infidelity shows how some traditional beliefs, while bizarre sounding to many, still pay a strong role in the lives of people in our community. What police are referring to as ‘penis captivus’ (when the muscles in the vagina clamp down on the penis making … Read more
Towards the end of last year SAFM had a fascinating discussion on ‘the sickness of the calling’, and a week later we received an email from one of our Ulwazi subscribers directing us to a site that focuses on African traditional healers – so it seems the universe is calling out for a story on … Read more
For those interested in sangomas and traditional healing in South Africa, there is a new website with some interesting information at SangomaZA.co.za [Link no longer active] Traditional healers of South Africa are practitioners of traditional African medicine in Southern Africa. They fulfil different social and political roles in the community, including divination, healing physical, emotional and … Read more
Zulu people believe in two distinct types of traditional healers, inyanga, who specialises in herbal medicines and potions; and isangoma, who uses divination, mediumship, and what might be termed “psychic healing” to assist their clients. Traditional Medicine Garden In South Africa, traditional medicine is recognised but many medical aid societies. There is even a traditional medicine or … Read more