We all saw all the post about Minnie Dlamini’s ‘uMhlonyane’ ritual and for most it was their first time hearing of such a ritual in the Zulu culture but still that doesn’t mean the ritual doesn’t not culturally exist. Although there may be one huge Zulu clan at the end of the day each ‘village’ (family) may practice their cultural rituals differently.
After Minnie Dlamini posted images and video’s of her ‘uMhlonyane’ ritual on Instagram all of a sudden social media cultural experts (what we’ll call them for now) came out slamming and bashing Minnie’s family saying that there’s no such or that they know the ritual as ‘uMemulo’ and not ‘uMhlonyane’ . Well Minnie had a little news for anyone who was questioning her ritual and took it to her Facebook page and twitter account.
Minnie had this to say on her Facebook page:
“I never knew about uMhlonyane, I only knew of uMemulo and with this process explained to me, according to our family practices, uMemulo takes place when ilobolo has been paid for in full and the spear is provided by the groom. It is thus that my parents, under the guidance of uMaMpanza, saw fit to perform and host this event for me as I needed to be introduced as a woman. This can happen at any age, even married women have found themselves having to perform this ritual, as required by family and ancestors permitting. This was confirmed by Head of African Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Sihawu Ngubane, to my paternal Aunt Duduzile Dlamini. The uMhlonyane and uMemulo processes are the same, the only difference being the handover of the spear, one being from the maternal uncle and the other being handed over by the groom.”
Well she took the time to explain things to you. Minnie also wrote a few tweets about how she feels regarding the whole situation and the cultural slamming.
I for one agree with how she feels and it’s great that she stood up for herself and her cultural beliefs and rituals the best way she could. And to all you social media cultural experts… SIT YOUR ASSES DOWN!!
