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Nolphy Ndlovu

FAMILY our family relatives. BECOMING AN
I would describe my upbringing as
BACKGROUND normal despite the fact that my family ASSISTANT
worshipped ancestors and consulted
y name is Nolphy Nkuna, born sangomas. That was the life that we SANGOMA
and bred in Bushbuckridge
MMpumalanga. I am the only were subjected to. Growing up, my y p a t e r n a l a u n t w a s a
siblings were always sick. Consequently,
female child of ten siblings. Two of my sangoma who had a house
all of us were constantly taken to Mnext to ours. When I was
brothers are already late due to heart
sangomas for rituals. The sangomas thirteen years old, she asked me to assist
failure. I was raised by both my parents
used to cut our bodies and put muthi in her with her clients. When her clients
i n a n e x t e n d e d f a m i l y w i t h those cuts. They would also come to our
grandparents, uncles and aunts. Our house regularly, especially when my consulted, she would perform rituals of
family house was the main house for all cutting their bodies with a razor and I
father was around and would steam us would be responsible for putting muthi
with muthis and tap our shoulders with in those cuts. After that I would walk
ishoba (a tuft of an animal’s tail tied to a around tapping their shoulders with
short stick). None of us ever asked them ishoba as per my aunt’s instruction. I did
why all these things were done. not even know the meaning of that; I
was just a child following orders.
In addition to that, my family also used
to perform rituals to appease the
ancestors. During these rituals, I WAS GIVEN AWAY
sangomas would come, beat drums and AS AN ANCESTRAL
perform ancestral dances. Afterwards
they would take us to the river to cleanse WIFE
us with muthi and make us sit on
n 1993, when I turned thirteen years
ancestral cloths after the cleansing.
When the rituals were done, the elders in old, my family performed a ritual to
Iintroduce me to the ancestors as an
my family would slaughter cows and ancestral wife and also gave me a hut to
goats and we would eat together as a take care of it. I did not understand what
family. They also used to make us wear
iziphandla (goatskins) around our wrists that meant at the time and it was also
after every ritual. These rituals were not explained to me. My family did not
done yearly to strengthen the family. tell me why I was chosen for this. When
presenting me to the ancestors as their

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