Ceremonies

Around the world, people mark transitions, from birth to death, through celebrations and ceremonies. In South Africa, many ceremonies are aimed at securing the spiritual well-being of the individual and of the community. Until the 18th century, all chiefdoms in southern Africa observed initiation practices to prepare young men and women for their roles in adult society. In present day KawZulu-Natal, these rites were abandoned in favour of age-grade regiments in the early 19th century, before the time of King Shaka. A number of celebrations associated with the coming of age of young women survive to this day, while the "Reed Ceremony", associated with puberty rights among the Swazi, was adopted by their Zulu-speaking neighbours as late as the mid-1980s. Among other southern African groups there was a revivial of interest in male and female initiation rights in the course of the 1990s, and young people from urban areas often participate in ceremonies organized by rural chiefs and ritual specialists.