Online Reporter
Mzala Tom
Puberty for the girl child was referred to as ukudunduzela However, amongst the present day amaNdebele, the word ukuthomba is generally used instead and the word ukudunduzela is now almost extinct.
Once a girl experienced her first menstruation, she reported that to her mother, aunt or grandmother. Thereafter, the head of the homestead being her father or other male guardian like an uncle or grandfather was informed of this important development.
The male head would then organise a big feast to celebrate the girl’s milestone. Beer was brewed and cattle and goats slaughtered. Family and friends were invited for this special occasion.
culture
The guests were expected to come dressed in their best outfits. Men and women danced in celebration, refilling their calabashes, inkezo with more beer. Rich and elite families cooked a lot of meat and would invite musicians and dancers to keep their guests entertained.
Amidst the pomp and fanfare senior women in the clan took the girl into a hut where they would then smear her face and body with red soil known as isibhuda. They would also fasten the gallbladders of oxen on her arms and anoint her with ox fat, ukugcoba.
After the ritual is done, the girl would then be ushered out of the hut with the guests clapping, ululating, whistling and celebrating. Thereafter, she joined other women on the dance floor. The women sang and danced to songs on the beauty of womanhood, ingoma yokudunduzela.
On the next day, the clan leader was expected to give the girl a male goat, intondolo as a present.
Other relatives gave various beads, ubuhlalu, as gifts. The gift giving ceremony was known as ukukhunga. This goat was the first asset a Ndebele woman owned.
The girl would then meticulously sew the beads into a tanned goat skin which she used to bind and cover her breasts, ukuzaya as a sign that she had reached puberty and had gone through the ukudunduzela ceremony.
After ukudunduzela the girl was now allowed to wear a longer skirt that reached her knees made of plaited grass. This skirt was known as ububendle. At this point the girl was now considered to be legally old enough to get married.
