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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

Academic appointed Editor-in-Chief of leading accredited History journal in South Africa
2017-02-15

Description: Dr Jared McDonald Tags: Dr Jared McDonald

Dr Jared McDonald, newly-appointed Editor-in-Chief
of Historia.
Photo: Thabo Kessah


The research profile of the Qwaqwa Campus has recently received a boost with the appointment of Dr Jared McDonald as the Editor-in-Chief of Historia, one of the leading accredited History journals in South Africa. It publishes articles in May and November on aspects of history and historiography of the Southern African region and is published by the Historical Association of South Africa (HASA).

Dr McDonald said it was an honour for him to be appointed in such a position, as it would enable him to further encourage critical engagement of historians. “I have served as the journal’s Review Editor for the past four years, so I am incredibly grateful for this appointment which will further enable historians to engage with one another as well as with scholars from other disciplines interested in grappling with the past,” he said.

Delivery of quality research to be strengthened
“My role will be to deepen the legacy of presenting historical themes to the broader public and the academic community, as well as enabling the delivery of quality research, while also strengthening Historia’s profile as a journal of choice for historians and scholars from related disciplines. In fact, having the editorship of such a journal based on the Qwaqwa Campus, is a welcome accolade for the campus,” he added.
Dr McDonald is Subject Head in the Department of History.

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