The role of culture in Zim society Beverly Sibanda’s dances are not in tandem with the accepted modicum of behaviour in Zimbabwe’s culture and morals
Beverly Sibanda’s dances are not in tandem with the accepted modicum of behaviour in Zimbabwe’s culture and morals

Beverly Sibanda’s dances are not in tandem with the accepted modicum of behaviour in Zimbabwe’s culture and morals

Nick Mangwana View From The Diaspora
Are morals and tradition overrated? Do they even have a role these days where social media has widely proliferated penetrating the most remote places?

Are we getting into a situation where morals, for the first time, are becoming universal rather than context specific because of social media and globalisation?

It seems in some instances, sticking to one’s traditional practices and belief system is considered ignorance by most Zimbabweans, thus bringing into question where as a country we stand when it comes to our traditional heritage.

An example will probably help illustrate the point.

When the British colonised Zimbabwe, they faced a lot of resistance from the local leadership.

But because of superior weapons, after protracted battles, they prevailed. Chiefs were killed. Some in battle and some were court-martialed and executed. Their heads were decapitated and taken to England. These heads remain in England over a century later.

Of particular interest are the heads of Chingaira Makoni, Chief Mapondera, military strategist Chief Chinengundu Mashayamombe, Chief Mashonganyika, Sekuru Kaguvi (Gumboreshumba) and Mbuya Nehanda (possibly) and Chief Chiwashira. zanu-PF engaged with the British authorities for the return of these heads. There was a museum where these slain leaders were supposed to be. This is where things become complicated.

To the British, once identities of the remains are confirmed, they will be transported to Zimbabwe in a diplomatic bag. When they get to Zimbabwe, the British Embassy will formally hand over these remains to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and it’s done. One other way the British look at this is to perform a museum to museum transfer.

Thus the museum which has the remains will send a consignment to say the Zimbabwe National Museums and Monuments. This sounds quite straight-forward right? Yes, if you are an urbanised under 50 dealing with this matter you may mistakenly see this from the British point of view and sign off the consignment to be handed over to some office orderly in Zimbabwe, who will sign off on some hand held device there.

But in reality, traditional things are never as simple as they look. The Zimbabwean side through zanu-PF is saying no. There are customary rites that need to be performed every step of the way. Chiefs and spirit mediums will need to go to London first. They will need to perform rites which will need to confirm the identities of the remains over and above any forensic tests carried out by the British. Further rites will need to be performed there in London and then these remains will need to be accompanied by the right people with the right totems and traditional titles and genealogy to Zimbabwe.

The British would like to manage the transfer as simply as they would manage artefacts like carvings destined for a museum in Zimbabwe. But to the Zimbabwean side, these are not artefacts. They are revered remains of very important people, some of whom embody valiant spirits, which if not handled appropriately, can result in national disasters.

One could ask where the problem is then? Why not bring in the representatives from the Chief’s Council and the spirit mediums? Well, part of the problem will be getting the British to give a visa to this large contingent to come and perform the correct rites. The second challenge will be getting the museum to allow what rituals they consider to be some hocus pocus.

There is a possibility among the readers of this column of divided opinion. Nearly everyone regardless of religious persuasion would agree that these revered chiefs, heroes and spirit mediums, should come home possibly be interred at the Heroes Acre. What people struggle with is the overlap between religion, tradition and modernity in all this. How does one strike a balance in these days of globalisation? Zimbabwe itself is moving faster than even Western countries. Moral compasses have changed coordinates and continue to do so. The laws and general attitudes have but capitulated to the onslaught of satellite TV, social media and faster travel. They cannot keep up.

Anyone who attended the première of the movie Fifty Shades Of Grey elsewhere would arguably agree with this columnist that Zimbabweans took theirs a couple of notches above the rest. The gyrations, the sexual simulations and the explicit kinkiness (if the video clips are to be believed) were at a different level. In a country with some conservative and clearly not fit for purpose censorship laws, one wonders how this managed to happen.

Well, how can it not happen when it is said there is a dancer who actually inserts a bottle in their privates? How many of those in the Diaspora have witnessed that especially even Western countries?

A search on Google search engine will always yield Zimbabwe’s own Beverly. In other countries this will probably be termed immoral. Generally, African moral standards in many cases are more conservative than Western ones.

If morality is defined as conformity some standards of right or wrong, it is the generally accepted conduct of society or a sub group. Any behaviour not in tandem with the accepted modicum of behaviour is deemed immoral. By this vein it is worthy noting that what’s moral changes.

There was a time long back in which one could wed pubescent girls. But with technology and research, society realises that these are children.

In many countries, any adult who sleeps with a child who is under 16 is considered a paedophile and will be made to sign a Sex Offenders Register after serving a severe prison term.

The idea is never to let anyone steal a girl child’s innocence and childhood. And of course the ultimate achievement of a girl child is certainly not to get married.

If that is the pinnacle of a girl child’s self-actualisation, then what is the boys’? This type of thinking has no place in modern Zimbabwe or anywhere else for that matter. Degradation of the young is the worst type of depravity.

Society is there to protect its vulnerable, especially the innocent. Society needs order. One thing we should never let our society do is attract the debauched and perverted. Society should never let its children be subjected to such warped appetites. Not in the name of culture, tradition or law for that matter. If any law allows such a degeneration, then as laws are made by mostly parents, they have short-changed the children and should rectify that without delay.

Of course, it is difficult to talk of moral decadence ignoring the worst of them all; corruption. It is not the argument that moral decay cannot happen without outside interference. That will be a simplistic way of looking at things.

The level of selfishness and corruption afflicting the country and shredding of the associated moral fibre probably inheres in the country without much influence from third parties.

It is just some spontaneous rot within. Somehow the country has just produced a generation of actively narcissistic, self-indulgent degenerates. The decadence runs in every facet of the life. From sexual perversion as evidenced by the normalisation of lewdness to all other forms of self-indulgent show-offs of the rich to spite the poor.

Is it all forms of media or is it the Diaspora or globalisation that have brought what many can call moral decadence among the Zimbabwean communities? Or is it simply globalisation? Globalisation means that national perspectives are opened and a more expansive outlook is adopted.

There is interconnectedness, easy movement of technology and goods but more importantly in this case is the free movement of cultural practices and moral codes or lack of the same. Citizens of fragile economies then discard their own cultures in favour of those from those nations they look up to.

They aspire to attain not only their standard of living and advancement, but as well as their way of life. This is probably where disaster besets. Zimbabweans seem to fail to know where that boundary peg is (hoko).

We are not asking to be an insular people. That horse has bolted the stable even if people were to try. We have our own social learning to go through. So does the world around us. There is a need to filter in the good and keep out the bad.

In both platforms for social interaction and political circles, people should accept change. But the one caveat is that the change that should be accepted is a change for the better and not one that depreciates a people’s worth.

Call it conservative but sometimes the status quo is an option. If culture is the way people live, the way they relate and the way they conduct themselves, then this also changes.

After all most chiefs who are the custodians of our culture and customs now drive cars. Nothing wrong with that, but that is embracing modernity. The culture which suits Zimbabwe is a mixture of ways of life and practices from different sources. But at the centre of it all, should be the core of the Zimbabwean culture; respect. Respect of the sanctity of life.

Respect of one’s parents and elders. Respect for the rights and innocence of children. Respect of other people’s way of life. As Laurence Sterne said, “Respect for ourselves guides our morals, and respect for others guides our manners”.

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