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04 July 2022 | Story Edzani Nephalela | Photo Edzani Nephalela
Faculty of Theology and Religion
From left to right: Dr Joel Mokhoathi, Ronel Ellis, Dr Nomfundo Mlisa, Prof Pieter Vester and Rev Jacob Makhutso

Growing up, many of us were raised in Christian homes practising specific morals and values, and anything outside of that was considered immoral or even ‘demonic’. However, what happens when you have a dual identity, and you embrace a bit of both?

On 29 June 2022, the University of the Free State Faculty of Theology presented a Table Talk Webinar with Dr Nomfundo Mlisa, titled ‘African Christianity: interconnections between religion, culture, and identity’. These webinars cover a variety of burning topics that deal with contentious issues across the country. Attendees emerged from various parts of the world, including Nigeria and Germany.

Dr Mlisa is a published author, qualified nurse, traditional healer, as well as preacher of the Word. Her talk was based on personal experiences of being Xhosa and being brought up as a member of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa in a strict Christian environment. She was on her journey to becoming a preacher when she realised that she needed to undergo the spiritual healing training (ukhuthwasa) and was faced with resistance from the church minister/s, forcing her to leave church because ukuthwasa was against the church policies.

Her journey has been challenging, because she only acknowledged her ancestral calling at the age of 42, following a series of occurrences that nearly cost her her children. Dr Mlisa hinted that, besides being against church policy, one of the reasons was that the Xhosa nation considered ukhuthwasa to be witchcraft due to the similarity in the pronunciation of words: ukhuthwasa, meaning undergoing spiritual training; ukuthwala, which is an ancient activity of gaining powers for wealth; and ukhuthakatha, meaning witchcraft.

“Rev Mabusela of the Methodist Church invited me back to the church and I was ordained as a reverend. However, my ordination was held at the East London Correctional Services, and it was then that I realised I was a prisoner of faith and tradition,” she said.

Is there a link between ukuthwasa and Christianity?

Besides the fact that philosophy could not prove the linkage, Dr Mlisa said that the link exists, but Christianity has strongly influenced Africans to integrate Christian values into their cultural value systems, as evidenced by various authors. This led to various people with spiritual calling disowning their cultural identities as well as their being.

“In Christianity, there are faith healers and prophets, whereas culturally, we have traditional healers; however, they have one objective, which is to heal the people. But because people wanted to accommodate their gifts in Christianity, such names were given. Furthermore, Christians recognise angels, while traditionally, ancestors are recognised,” she explained.

Looking into different practices in both the Traditional and Christian religions, they both have elements of training, ‘ukhuthwasa’. This is mainly because they all undergo different types of training under a senior person. A senior faith healer trains a junior, whereas a ‘gobela’ trains a traditional healer.

The society is also coming to accept all religions, with most people now wearing traditional healer beads everywhere, including work. There are also traditional healers who are modern doctors, demonstrating that these innate or hereditary abilities are a common language.

News Archive

Eusebius McKaiser delivers public lecture celebrating Library Week
2013-03-12

 

Eusebius McKaiser
Photo: Johan Roux
12 March 2013

The UFS Library and Information Services will celebrate South African Library Week with a public lecture by writer and political analyst, Eusebius McKaiser.

McKaiser, one of South Africa’s most influential figures, will speak about his book A Bantu in My Bathroom, his life, his love for reading and writing and the value of libraries.

Eusebius McKaiser is a political and social analyst at the Wits Centre for Ethics. He is also a top international debate coach, MC and public speaker, having been both former National South African Debate Champion and the 2011 World Master’s Debate Champion. His analytical articles are widely published in South African newspapers and he has a weekly column in the New York Times. He holds Law and Philosophy degrees from Rhodes and Oxford Universities

Thursday 14 March 2013
Mabaleng Auditorium (opposite the Faculty of Education)
17:00

Library week is celebrated annually in the third week of March with a different theme for each year. The main idea behind library week is to promote and increase awareness of the importance and the place that libraries hold in the broader community. The theme will also provide us with an opportunity to bring to the attention of the country and our leaders the role that libraries play in educating communities and the nation.

This year’s theme is “Educate yourself @ your library through displays and events.”

Enquiries: Marcus Maphile at +27(0)51 401 9393 or Maphilelm@ufs.ac.za

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