It’s time to catch the ‘bull’ by the horns

I WAS saddened and disheartened to learn the majority of ‘mothers’ who gave birth to Christmas and New Year’s babies throughout the KZN province were ‘babies’ themselves.

According to KZN Health MEC’s recent report, one of these mothers must have fallen pregnant at the age of 13, as she gave birth at 14.

Instead of congratulating these mothers, one feels nothing but to ponder about this depressing situation…which is eroding the very fibre of our once beautiful Ubuntu!

Why are children having babies, is beyond my understanding! What happened to the pride the girls and maidens used have?

Where are the parents of these girls, or rather their fathers? According to the Zulu culture they are supposed to safeguard their father’s ‘kraals’, until they come of age? Until their fathers ‘thank’ them for being good maidens with exemplary behaviour. Appreciated by the whole community, and Isizwe at large!

To thank her for protecting his ‘kraal’, her father would arrange a big function to celebrate his daughter’s maidenhood, through the Umemulo cultural event.

Nowadays it’s very rare to come across a young woman, around age 23, who doesn’t have a baby!

Some sectors of our society have begun to go back to the roots of our once beautiful Zulu culture. They have brought back isiko lokuhlolwa kwezintombi (virginity testing), with the hope this will instil pride in girls for keeping themselves pure, and safe from teenage pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases. But to some this is frowned upon, because people feel this once beautiful practice has come of age!

For our girls to continue exposing themselves to teenage pregnancies, this exposes them to STDs, damages their future, and leaves them vulnerable to be preyed upon by wolves in sheep’s clothing, for the rest of their unhappy lives!

DISAPPOINTED ZULU FATHER

Empangeni