Sangoma

For the company, see Sangoma Technologies Corporation.

Five Sangomas in KwaZulu-Natal

A sangoma is a diviner and practitioner of traditional African medicine in Zulu culture; the Zulu word with prefix is isangoma (pl. izangoma), alternatively it is also spelled as umngoma (pl. abangoma), literally meaning "person of the drum". Nowadays the term sangoma is often used colloquially in South Africa for equivalent professions in other Bantu cultures in Southern Africa. The Xhosa term is igqirha (pl. amagqirha); as reflected in the lyrics of Miriam Makeba's Click Song (Xhosa: Qongqothwane): Igqira lendlela nguqongqothwane (the diviner of the road is the knock-knock beetle). Ngaka and selaoli are the terms in Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho respectively, while among the Venda and Tsonga people they are called mungome.

The practices of a sangoma is based on a belief in ancestral spirits, (Zulu: Amathongo or Amadlozi), who have the power to intervene in people's lives. Both men and women can be called by the ancestors, however the majority of sangomas are female. Estimates of the number of sangomas in South Africa ranged up to 200 000 in 1999, compared to 25 000 western trained doctors. A trainee sangoma (or ithwasa) trains under another sangoma, for a period of anywhere between 3 months and years. At times in the training, and for the graduation, a ritual sacrifice of an animal is performed (usually a chicken, a goat or a cow). The spilling of this blood is meant to seal the bond between the ancestors and the sangoma.

Background

Sangomas greeting each other

Traditional healers in Zulu culture can be roughly divided in two main categories: the diviner-diagnostician and the herbalist; the sangoma and inyanga respectively. The sangoma provides a diagnosis through divination, while the herbalist then applies relevant remedies. However, due to a changing cultural landscape, especially since the onset of colonialism, the distinction between diviners and herbalists is not clear anymore. With the additional encroachment of alleopathic, or Western, health care systems in South Africa, the roles of the diviner and herbalist have become increasingly blurred.

Sangomas have many different social and political roles in the community: divination, healing, directing rituals, finding lost cattle, protecting warriors, counteracting witches, and narrating the history, cosmology, and myths of their tradition. They are highly revered and respected in their society, where illness is thought to be caused by witchcraft, pollution (contact with impure objects or occurrences) or by the ancestors themselves, either malevolently, or through neglect if they are not respected, or to show an individual her calling to be a Sangoma. For harmony between the living and the dead, vital for a trouble-free life, the ancestors must be shown respect through ritual and animal sacrifice.

A Sangoma is called to heal by an initiation illness, often psychosis, headache, intractable stomach pain, shoulder or neck complaints. She will undergo Thwasa, a period of training including learning humility to the ancestors, purification through steaming, washing in the blood of sacrificed animals, and the use of Muti, medicines with spiritual significance. At the end of Thwasa, a goat is sacrificed to call to the ancestors and appease them.

Sangomas are steeped in ritual. They work in a sacred healing hut or Ndumba, where their ancestors reside. They have specific coloured cloths to wear to please each ancestor, and often wear the gallbladder of the goat sacrificed at their graduation ceremony in their hair. They summon the ancestors by burning a plant called Imphepho, dancing, chanting, and most importantly playing drums.

Sangomas are able to access advice and guidance from the ancestors for their patients in three ways: possession by an ancestor, or channelling; throwing bones; and interpreting dreams. In possession states the Sangoma works herself into a trance, through drumming, dancing and chanting, and allows her ego to step aside so an ancestor possesses her body and communicates directly with the patient, providing specific information about his problems. It can be very dramatic, with the Sangoma speaking in tongues, or foreign languages according to the specific ancestor, or dancing fervently beyond her normal ability.

Accessing the ancestors' advice through the bones is an alternative to the exhausting possession states. The Sangoma possesses a collection of small bones and other small objects like seeds, shells etc., each with a specific significance to human life. For example a hyena bone signifies a thief and will provide information about stolen objects. The Sangoma or the patient throws the bones but the ancestors control how they lie, and the Sangoma then interprets this metaphor in relation to the patient's life. In the same way, Sangomas will interpret the metaphors present in dreams, either their own or patients'.

Sangomas will give their patients muti, medications of sand, plant and animal origin imbued with spiritual significance, often with powerful symbolism - lion fat is given to promote courage in the younsters. There are medicines for everything from physical and mental illness, social disharmony and spiritual difficulties to potions for love and luck. Muti can be drunk, smoked, inhaled, steamed, used for washing, smeared on the body, given as enemas, or rubbed into an incision. However, 2C-B have also been used by sangoma over their traditional plants.

Sangomas function as the social workers and psychologists in their community. They know the local dynamics and can counsel appropriately with this background knowledge.

The formal health sector has shown continued interest in the role of sangomas and the efficacy of their herbal remedies. Western-style scientists continue to study the ingredients of traditional medicines in use by sangomas. Public health specialists are now enlisting sangomas in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. In the past decade, the role of all types of traditional healers have become important in the fighting the impact of the virus and treating people infected with the virus before they advance to a point where they require (or can obtain) anti-retroviral drugs.

Legal status

Sangomas are legally recognized in South Africa as traditional health practitioners, under the Traditional Health Practitioners Act of 2007 (Act. 22 of 2007) as diviners alongside with herbalists, traditional birth attendants, and traditional surgeons. The act calls for the establishment of a national council of traditional health practitioners to regulate and register a.o. sangomas in the country. However, it was only in December 2011 that the National Department of Health took action and opened nominations for seats on an interim council. Previously, the South African Parliament had passed the Traditional Health Practitioners Act of 2004 (Act. 35 of 2004). However, the act was ruled unconstitutional after Doctors for Life International challenged it at the Constitutional Court, citing the insufficient public participation at provincial level in the drafting of the act.

White Sangomas

While there are recorded instances of white sangomas before 1994, since 1994 an increasing number of white people have openly trained as sangomas in South Africa. The question of authenticity is still often an ongoing discussion. According to Dr Nokuzola Mndende of the Icamagu Institute, a Xhosa sangoma and formerly a lecturer in religious studies at the University of Cape Town:

"An igqirha is someone who has been called by their ancestors to heal, whether from the maternal or paternal side, they can't be called by [somebody else's] ancestors."

However, Philip Kubekeli, director of the Traditional Medical Practitioners, Herbalist and Spiritual Healers Association, and Phephsile Maseko, spokesperson of the Traditional Healers Organisation, insist that traditional healing knows no colour, and see nothing wrong with white sangomas

Several white sangomas, interviewed by The Big Issue in 2010, claimed that they have been welcommed by the black community in South Africa, aside from isolated experiences of hostility. On the other hand, there have also been reports that white sangomas have been less readily accepted by black sangomas, and sometimes face strong hostility from them.

Controversy

Sangomas far outnumber western-style doctors in Southern Africa, and are consulted first (or exclusively) by approximately 80% of the Black population.^{[citation needed]} While for many they provide the healing needed, there are some causes for concern. Charlatans who haven't undergone Thwasa charge exorbitant prices for fraudulent service, and not all countries in southern Africa have effective regulatory bodies to prevent this practice. Some Sangomas have been known to abuse the charismatic power they have over their patients by sexually assaulting them, sometimes dressed up as ritual. Repeated use of the same razor blade to make incisions for Muti carries HIV transmission risks in regions where the disease is rife. Western-style doctors have seen a number of cases of patients with serious gastrointestinal problems through the use of Muti, especially in enema form, and have even coined the phrase "ritual enema induced colitis". Zulu children may have up to three enemas a week.

Notable Sangomas

• Busi Mhlongo
• John Lockley
• Mercy Manci
• Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa

See also

• Inyanga
• Traditional African medicine

References

• Foster, G and Anderson B. Chapters 6 & 7, Medical Anthropology.New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1978.
• Loudon, JB editor. Some aspects of treatment among the Zulu in Social anthropology and Medicine. London: Academic Press; 1976.
• Cumes, D. Africa in my Bones. Cape Town: New Africa Books; 2004.
• Tate, P. The Doctor's Communication Handbook. 4th ed. Oxford: OUP; 2003.
• Kale, R. Traditional healers in South Africa: a parallel health care system. BMJ 1995;310 (6988):1182-5.
• Niagia, SF. Traditional Medicine gets healthy recognition. Lancet 2002;359(9319):1760.
• Siringi, S. Traditional medicine could cut costs for national health services. Lancet 2002;359 (9319):1760.
• Ramsay, S. WHO launches first global strategy on traditional medicines. Lancet 2002;359(9319):1760.
• King, R. Collaboration with traditional healers in Aids prevention and care in Sub-Saharan Africa: a literature review. UNAIDS, Geneva (2000)

External links

• Sangomas murder for 'medicinal' body parts (article by Ramita Navai)