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SEVEN YEARS CONFINEMENT FOR 2 SHEMBE VIRGINS

21/10/2019 01:14:00 BY PHIWASE PHUNGWAYO

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KASHEWULA – In a scene that depicts the famous Big Brother, two women have been in house confinement for almost eight years.

Big Brother is a reality competition television franchise where housemates are continuously monitored during their stay in the house. The difference with these women is that their stay is for a religious purpose.

The duo has been reportedly waiting for the appropriate time until they meet their husbands- to-be. This is the story of Hleziphi (34) and Ncobile Mphaphu (32) of KaShewula, Mnyamatsini area, who have been in seclusion since 2012.
Hleziphi and Ncobile fellowship in the Shembe Nazareth Church. The Shembe religion is a combination of Zulu culture and Christianity that has been based on the Old Testament of the Bible.

A visit to the homestead on Friday saw a woman, who looks not older than 50, giving this reporter and the driver a scrutinising look as they entered the Mphaphu homestead. The woman identifies herself as the mother of the two. While she was organising a spot for herself to sit, a man who introduces himself as Sabelo appears and offers a mat and a chair for them to sit. He says he is the women’s younger brother. The reporter was with this publication’s driver.

Heat

We arrived at noon on Friday and the scorching heat was at its peak. The Mphaphu homestead has five thatched huts and one big house roofed with corrugated iron sheets. The yard is spotlessly clean. It is located in the farthest area and I drew one conclusion from this; anyone who came to this home knew their story, they would have definitely planned for the trip.

It is a homestead located approximately 15 kilometres away from the bus station. There are few houses which are sparsely located near the Mphaphu homestead. The homestead is awfully quiet. There is not a sound of anything except the blowing of the wind from the trees.

As we introduce ourselves, we notice that Josephine the women’s mother, is skeptical about our visit. Our epiphany to the Mphaphu homestead stemmed from a source who had tipped me about the two women who have been in confinement since 2012 and I had planned to verify it by hook or by crook. Apparently, one of the women was said to have been crippled from staying indoors for such a long time.

Josephine seems to be a hard nut to crack, but with the assistance of my team member, she finally opens up about her two children’s confinement. She claims that their staying indoors is their right and responsibility.

The family matriarch further alludes to the fact that the family fellowships under the Shembe Nazareth Church and that her two children are virgins. According to the mother, a voice appeared to them through a dream from their God. She claims that it informed the women to seclude from the world and serve Him until the right time for them to become wives, a time which till today, had not been revealed.

So serious is the Mphaphu family’s belief that this reporter was firmly denied the chance to meet with the women for an interview. This, according to Josephine, was an abomination and was strictly against the Shembe culture.

When explaining the women’s confinement, the mother says it is called kugoma, meaning a sacred time for women to set apart from the world and be confined in a room until their God appeared to them in a dream to inform them when to return to the world. She says this is done by women who are 20 and above. She further states that the room they are staying in is called emgoncweni.
“They stay in their room and are not allowed to do anything except to pray and communicate with our god,” she explained.

Seclusion

The women’s mother highlights that the seclusion was only done by Shembe women who are baptised and those who are pure. She makes mention that the baptism is only done when they are mature enough to understand what is being done to them.

The family matriarch states that at times, some children are exposed to other religions and later decide to convert to Shembe religion. For this reason, she points out that it is then done by those who are well informed about the religion and are fully dedicated to it. When I question her on how long the confinement lasted, the mother details that there is no specific time frame as it only depends upon Shembe, who revealed when they were to set out into the world. She says when the confirmation came through a dream, the women would then inform her and then she would take them to church.

Wives

She highlights that the church elderly women (who are also virgins), would organise for men who are ready to take wives to meet with the virgin girls.
The mother articulated that the men who were interested in taking a wife would then indicate which woman he was interested in and it was up to the woman if she also approved of the man.

The women’s mother explains that the girls would communicate through the church elderly women, who would later shake the man’s hand as a sign of acceptance of the marriage proposal. This would then mark the beginning of their marriage journey.

Josephine expresses that even then, the women would stay at home during preparations for the traditional wedding. She says the Shembe religion is observant and obedient of the Eswatini traditional customs that they practise all the customs which are done. When I query if she did not wish to see her children living normally like all other women, Josephine confides that she does.

“I would definitely love to see them getting married but until the voice appears to them, I will wait,” she says.
Till today, the women are still staying indoors and they have allegedly not set their foot outside.

It is worth noting that Section 23 (1) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Eswatini, under the ‘protection of conscience or religion’, provides that; a person has a right to freedom of thought, conscience or religion. Subsection 2 of the same Section stipulates that – except with the free consent of that person, a person shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of the freedom of conscience, and for the purposes of the section freedom of conscience includes freedom of thought and of religion, freedom to change religion or belief, and freedom of worship either alone or in community of others.

Meanwhile, when reached for comment, Lomahasha Member of Parliament (MP) Ndumiso Masimula declared that he knew the Mphaphu family and also had relatives who were under the fellowship of the Shembe religion.
“I was not informed that the Mphaphu women had decided to stay indoors for this long. However, I cannot say much because religion is a choice,” Masimula stated.

Shock

Nonetheless, the MP expressed his shock as he stated that was a bit abnormal for the women to be secluded from the world for such a long time. He said it was disturbing and would pay the family a visit to check up on them.

Shembe Nazareth Church senior member Qedusizi Ndlovu said the women’s culture was bizarre and unacceptable in this religion. He said: “There is no such law in the Shembe culture since its establishment in the country in 1926.”

He added that a visit to the Mphaphu homestead would be initiated to investigate the matter. Ndlovu further stated that in any case, where they would find that they were not practising the right culture, they would be stripped of the right to fellowship under their religion.