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11 a MORULA TREE BETWEEN TWO FIELDS. 11 the Commentary of Selected Tsonga Writers on Missionary Christianity

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11 a MORULA TREE BETWEEN TWO FIELDS. 11 the Commentary of Selected Tsonga Writers on Missionary Christianity 11 A MORULA TREE BETWEEN TWO FIELDS. 11 The Commentary of Selected Tsonga Writers On Missionary Christianity By SAMUEL TINYIKO MALULEKE Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject MISSIOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: PROF J.N.J. KRITZINGER June 1995 Student Number: 567-423-9 I declare that "A Morula Tree Between Two Fields." The Commentary of Selected Tsonga Writers On Missionary Christianity is my own work and all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. SIGNATURE (S.T. Maluleke) DATE Centre for Science and Development: Acknowledgement The financial assistance of the Centre for Science Development towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed in this thesis and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the Centre for Science and Developemt. TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY .......... vii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viii CHAPTER 1 . I MISSIONARY INTERVENTION AMONGST THE VATSONGA - AN INTRODUCTION I I.I Statement and Outline ........... I 1.2 Black Theology of Liberation as a Framework . 4 1.3 The beginnings of the SMSA - A brief history 6 1.3 .1 Swiss Background . 6 1.3.2 The Lesotho Connection . 8 1.3.3 Pedi, Venda Chiefdoms and other Missionary Societies I2 1.3 .4 Joao Albasini . 16 1.3. 5 The Basotho Evangelists Initiate work at Spelonken 19 1.4 The ideological and historiographical problematic ..... 20 1.4.1 An Indigenous Commentary ......... 26 I.4.2 The abiding impact of missionary intervention 29 I.4.3 Can an Indigenous Commentary be Constructed? 34 1.5 Sources 38 I.5.1. Tsonga Newspapers ..... 38 1.5.2 Published Sources to be Considered 40 1.6 The question of legitimacy 4I I.6.1 Broader Historical and Missiological Issues 45 i i CHAPTER 2 . 51 THE COMMENTARY OF TSONGA HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORKS 51 2.1 General Introduction 51 2.2 In Praise of our Heroes and Pioneers 53 2.2.1 Rhuma Mina (Baloyi 1965) - Summary and Overview 53 2.2.2 Of no Historiographical Use? 59 2.2.3 The Mabunu vs Vaneri dialectic 60 2.2.4 Missionaries: Noble Heroes Amidst People in Darkness 62 2.2.5 The Vatsonga: Backward and in Darkness . 63 2.3 The Fly Fallen into a Bowl Full of Milk . 64 2.3.1 Ta Vutomi bya Mina (Maphophe 1945) - Summary and Overview 64 2.3.2 Some Historiographical Issues . 72 2.3.3 The Black Male 'Mother' to Paul Berthoud's Children 74 2.3.4 Calvin Maphophe - a Missionary who Sacrificed much 74 2.4 National Histories 78 2.4.1 Introduction 78 2.4.2 Ta ka Mpisana (Sihlangu 1975) - Summary and Overview 78 2.4.3 Historiographical Issues 83 2.4.4 Bushbuckridge mission - A local Initiative 84 2.4.5 The 'darkness' at Mpisana ... 86 2.5 The Morula Tree on the Boundary between Two Fields 87 2.5.1 Muhlaba (Shilubana & Ntsanwisi 1958) - Summary and Overview 87 2.5.2 Historiographical Issues 91 2.5.3 Was Muhlaba Converted? 93 ii i 2.5.4 Muhlaba and his Culture 94 2.5.5 Muhlaba the Diplomat 95 2.6 Conclusions ........ 96 2.6.l Genuine Appreciation for Missionary Christianity 96 2.6.2 The Fly versus the Morula Tree .... 98 2.6.2.1 Fly in a Milk Bowl Christianity 98 2.6.2.2 The Morula Tree In Between Two worlds 100 2.6.3 Tremendous Local Input 101 2.6.4 Political Undertones 102 2.7 Summary 103 CHAPTER 3 . 105 THE COMMENTARY OF SELECTED TSONGA NOVELISTS 105 3.1 General Introduction 105 3.1.1 Eminent Tsonga Authors 106 3.2 Mibya Ya NyekaNyeka (Mtombeni 1967) - Summary and Overview 107 3.2.1 An Urban Setting ...... 107 3.2.2 Characters and Plot ..... 108 3.2.3 Christian Commitment and Tribal Loyalty 115 3.2.4 The ideal Christian Family . 116 3.2.5 Church, Mission and Ministry . 117 3.2.6 Church in an Urban Setting .. 118 3.2.7 Culture and Traditional Customs 118 3.2.8 Which Sling-skin Has Become Loose? 119 iv 3.3 Tinhlolo Ti be Mitsatsu (Nkondo 1973) - Summary and Overview 120 3.3.1 The New and the Old .. 124 3.3.2 Vujagani and Xihina (our traditions) 124 3.3.3 The characterisation of the Muneri 125 3.3.4 Political undertones 127 3.3.5 The Dilemmas of well-meaning Majagani 128 3.3.6 Which bones have erred and how? ... 129 3.4 Xisomisana (Thuketana 1968) - Summary and Overview 130 3.4.2 Effectively told story 135 3.4.3 Xisomisana as a case study 136 3.4.4 An exhibition or denigration of rural Tsonga Culture? 138 3.4.5 Misfortune as Justice and misfortune as Injustice 139 3.4.6 Missionary Christianity as the answer . 140 3.5 General Conclusion 141 3.5.1 Style and Plot Construction 141 3.5.2 Depictions of Missionary Christianity . 141 3.5.2.1. Religious Issues Feature Prominently 142 3.5.3 Missionary Education 144 3.5.4 Local Customs .... 145 3.5.5 Mission and Politics 146 3.5.6 Conclusion 147 CHAPTER 4 . 149 TSONGA PLAYS, RHYMES AND POEMS 149 4.1 General Introduction 149 4.1.1 Plays . 149 4.1.2 Poetry 150 v 4.2 Muhlupheki Ngwanazi (Nkondo 1974) - Summary and Overview 151 4.2.1 Realistic and Openly Political 159 4.2.2 The gods under Siege 160 4.2.3 Tribalism and Nationalism . 162 4.2.4 Veiled attacks on Christian teachings 163 4.3 Mihizo Ya Kayivela (Mtombeni 1974) - Summary and Overview 165 4.3.l As a Play . 170 4.3.2 Life and Death as Mystery ..... 171 4.3.3 Christianity and Traditional Tsonga Beliefs 172 4.3.4 Mbolovisa Challenges the Church 174 4.4 Summary of Issues ......... 174 4.5 Selected Poems 175 4.5.1 Children's Poems 175 4.5.1.1 Conclusion 178 4.5.2 Poems in praise of missionaries and their legacies 179 4.5.3 Poems on the Christian life-style . 181 4.5.3.1 Conclusion 184 4.6 Poems on Religion and Politics 184 4.7 General Conclusion 188 vi CHAPTER 5 .. 189 A MORULA TREE IN BETWEEN - AT THE CUTTING EDGE 189 5.1 Introduction 189 5.2 Revisiting the Basic Thesis 189 5.3 The essential Commentary 208 5.4 The Morula Tree Metaphor in Context 218 5.4.1 Personally Torn .. 221 5.4.2 On the Edge .... 222 5.4.3 A Positive Metaphor 223 5.5 Towards a Conclusion 223 5.5.1 An Ideological Break 224 5.5.2 Towards a Black Missiology of Liberation 227 5.6 Challenge to Missiology 230 LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED .. 237 SUMMARY The thesis of this study is that indigenous Tsonga literature forms a valid and authoritative commentary on missionary Christianity. In this study, the value of literary works by selected Tsonga writers is explored in three basic directions: (a) as a commentary on missionary Christianity, (b) as a source of and challenge to missiology, and (c) as a source of a Black missiology of 1 i berat ion. The momentous intervention of Swiss missionaries amongst the Vatsonga, through the activities of the Swiss Mission in South Africa (SMSA) must be granted. Similarly, its abiding influence formerly in the Tsonga Presbyterian Church (TPC), now the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in South Africa (EPCSA), the Vatsonga in general and Tsonga literature in particular must be recognized. But our missiological task is to problematise and explore both missionary instrumentality and local responses variously and creatively. The first chapter introduces the thesis, central issues of historiography and ideology as well as an introductory history of the SMSA. In the second chapter, the commentary of Tsonga writers through the media of historical and biographical works on missionary Christianity is sketched. Selected Tsonga novels become the object of inquiry in the third chapter. The novels come very close to a direct evaluation of missionary Christianity. They contain commentary on a wide variety of issues in mission. The fourth chapter concentrates on two Tsonga plays and a number of Tsonga poems. In the one play, missionary Christianity is likened to garments that are too sho· ~' whilst in the other, missionary Christianity is contemptuously ignored and excluded - recognition granted only to the religion and gods of the Vatsonga. The fifth and final chapter contains the essential commentary of indigenous Tsonga literature on missionary Christianity as well as the implications for both global and local missiology. KEY TERMS: Indigenous Tsonga literature, Swiss Mission in South Africa, Black missiology of liberation, Evangelical Presbyterian Church in South Africa, Missionary Christianity, Black Theology of liberation, Tsonga historical and biographical works, Tsonga novels, Tsonga plays and poems. PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To the Extended Family My journey in academic theology started in 1982. My childhood years were shared between Valdezia, the Mtsetweni area (now called Ha Mashao or Give­ Shandaan), Nkowa-Nkowa near Tzaneen, and Soweto where I was born. My nomadic existence was precipitated by the premature and sudden death of my young mother in 1965. She left behind four children aged nine, seven, four, and eight months - and I was the third of these. My younger sister, whom we lovingly call Sesana, was less than a year old when death snatched her mother's breast away! Various sectors of the Maluleke-Dumazi extended family courageously took turns in helping my father raise his four motherless children.
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