Manhood Initiation Pictures: Chiefs player in the Eastern Cape

Kaizer Chiefs supporters will be familiar with Bontle Molefe who is the reserve goalkeeper to the likes of Bruce Bvuma, Brandon Petersen and Fiacre Ntwari.

KAIZER CHIEFS GOALKEEPER BONTLE MOLEFE AT INITIATION SCHOOL

Soon after the previous November school exams, Sotho and Xhosa boys leave homes for a month to undergo manhood initiation in remote mountains. Kaizer Chiefs’ 21-year-old Molefe left Johannesburg and went all the way to the Eastern Cape to become a man in his Sotho culture. Upon his return in January, Molefe shared the visual memories via his TikTok account.

Bontle Molefe at his home in the Eastern Cape. Image: Bontle Molefe/TikTok

MORE ABOUT SESOTHO MANHOOD INITIATION

According to Dodho, initiation or Lebollo la banna is a cultural and traditional practice that the Basotho society follows to construct the manhood identity. It is a rite of passage in the sense that boys or ‘bashemane’ pass the puberty stage and enter the adulthood stage to become men or ‘monna’. Part of the rite of the rite of passage includes a circumcision, learning sacred songs tribal ceremonies. The initiates are given schooling on the knowledge of family life and extensive lessons on adult male identity.

Traditional initiation schools of the Basotho are conducted over a period of time, (varying from a few weeks to 6 months) in secluded areas away from settlements. The schools are found in Lesotho, Free State, Western Cape and the Eastern Cape. The traditional initiation teachers, known as basuwe in Sesotho, are commonly elderly men with substantial economic, political and social standing within Basotho communities. 

DO YOU HAVE MORE INFORMATION TO SHARE ABOUT THE BASOTHO INITIATION CULTURE?

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