‘He uses my body’: female traditional healers, male ancestors and transgender in South Africa

Abstract

This work focuses on the autobiography Black Bull, ancestors and me: my life as a lesbian sangoma by Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde. I delineate the empowerment obtained and tensions experienced in the case of Nkabinde, a sangoma, or traditional healer in South Africa. The name 'Nkunzi', meaning 'Black Bull', previously belonged to her late male ancestor, who is her main possessing spirit in her healing work. This possession, I argue, serves a validating transgender function in the case of Nkabinde, who identifies as a lesbian; however, it is also problematic, as it entails a conflict between Nkabinde's reverence for tradition and her feminist, modernist beliefs. I examine Black Bull, ancestors and me through the lens of autobiographical writing, including transgender life-writing. I use the phrase 'He uses my body' to show the tensions and boundary-crossing which ensue as a result of Nkabinde's composite identity, highlighting problematic aspects of the representation of gender, sexuality and spirituality. Finally, following Gayle Rubin, Homi Bhabha and Ernest Renan, I situate Nkabinde's transgender boundary-crossings as a significant test of a nation in flux.

African Studies Keywords: Queer

“…Yet another case in point, in the context of African indigenous religions, is the self-described “lesbian sangoma” Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde who in their autobiography Black Bull, Ancestors and Me invokes the motif of ancestral spirit possession to legitimize and perform gender-transient Zulu indigenous healing (Nkabinde 2008; also see Stobie 2011; van Klinken & Otu 2017). A similar indigenization of queerness through the category of spirits can be found in Akwaeke Emezi’s acclaimed novel Freshwater (2018), which adopts the Igbo concept of ogbanje (spirit-child) as a narrative framework to explore the transient and fluid gendered and sexual modes of being embodied by the main protagonist (Magaqa & Makombe 2021).…”

South African contributions to LGBTI education issues

“…However, in Ligbit work it is important to avoid a Northern over-simplification of South African meanings and identities. Colonising narratives sometimes 'misread' the practices of Zulu sangoma or Xhosa amagqhirha divination-based healers, who may allow their bodies to be used in same-sex sexual acts by male and female spirits, as experiencing discrimination against 'gay', 'third sex' or 'transgender' identities they may or may not claimfor example whilst one female sangoma may consider herself lesbian for having sex with women within the context of her healing work, another may see herself as heterosexual allowing heterosexual male ancestors to heal women using her body (Stobie 2011;Murray and Roscoe 1998;Nkabinde 2009). Instead, a Ligbit perspective foregrounds culturally-specific experiences of discrimination relevant to African gender and sexuality variations.…”

The influence of ancestral spirits on sexual identity amongst Traditional Healers (iZangoma) in South Africa: A discourse analysis

“…In particular, it explores the influence of ancestral guides on the sexual identity of Traditional Healers (iZangoma) in South Africa, an area that has received even less attention in Africa. Stobie (2011), who examined the autobiography Black Bull, Ancestors and Me: My life as a lesbian Sangoma by Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde, stated that possession by her late male ancestor named Nkunzi (meaning Black Bull), her dominant possessing spirit in her healing work, serves a validating transgender function in the case of this Traditional Healer who identifies as a lesbian. However, Stobie (2011) argued that this is problematic as it creates conflict between Nkabinde's modernist, feminist beliefs and her reverence for tradition.…”

“…Stobie (2011), who examined the autobiography Black Bull, Ancestors and Me: My life as a lesbian Sangoma by Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde, stated that possession by her late male ancestor named Nkunzi (meaning Black Bull), her dominant possessing spirit in her healing work, serves a validating transgender function in the case of this Traditional Healer who identifies as a lesbian. However, Stobie (2011) argued that this is problematic as it creates conflict between Nkabinde's modernist, feminist beliefs and her reverence for tradition. As a result, Nkabinde's composite identity is believed to highlight problematic aspects on how gender, spirituality and sexuality are represented (Stobie 2011).…”

“…However, Stobie (2011) argued that this is problematic as it creates conflict between Nkabinde's modernist, feminist beliefs and her reverence for tradition. As a result, Nkabinde's composite identity is believed to highlight problematic aspects on how gender, spirituality and sexuality are represented (Stobie 2011). This article further problematises homosexuality by groups that are regarded as playing significant roles of healing and leadership in African communities.…”