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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

Shimlas get back on track
2014-02-26

The Shimlas overpowered a startled UJ side in Bloemfontein on Monday, scoring seven tries en route to a 52-16 victory in the fourth round of the Varsity Cup competition.

The UFS’s second win in four weeks saw them climb the log standings to a well deserved third position. The Shimlas took an early lead in the match, with blindside flank Oupa Mohoje scoring the opening try from an attacking line-out.

Our boytjies was on a roll, with wing Maphuto Dolo scoring in the corner after a break from a scrum by scrumhalf Kevin Luiters. Kovsies' flyhalf Gouws Prinsloo knocked both conversions over to put our team in a commanding 16-0 lead before the first strategy break. Not long after, the Shimlas scored their third try as left wing Sethu Tom found the corner to make it 21-0. T his was followed by yet another onslaught when Shimlas’ skipper, Joubert Engelbrecht, crashed over for the bonus-point try. Outside centre, Tertius Kruger, put even more pressure on the UJ side when he crossed the try line, leaving the Shimlas with a 34-0 lead at half-time.

Prinsloo slotted a penalty early in the second half for Shimlas, followed by skipper Engelbrecht’s second try. After 15 minutes into the second half, UJ managed to score two converted tries to change the scoreboard to 44-16. T his did, however, not spur the visitors on to complete a comeback and the Shimlas' Divandré Strydom gave our team the last say with one final try.

The scorers:
For FNB UFS-Shimlas:
Tries: Oupa Mohoje, Maphuto Dolo, Sethu Tom, Joubert Engelbrecht (2), Tertius Kruger, Divandré Strydom
Cons: Gouws Prinsloo (5)
Pen: Gouws Prinsloo

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