In the Sesotho culture, when a child is born, a reed is etched at the entrance of the birthplace to announce the birth of the child.
Men are not allowed to get into the place of birth until rights over the birth are undertaken.
These rights are called (Pitiki). Not even the father is allowed to see his child pending the rituals, which confer rights.
Once in my village, a man became the centre of ridicule through song when girls and women went for firewood gathering and water collection after he transgressed this cultural rule.
These cultural rules also regulate the boundaries between boys and girls.
Once, I followed my sister to a girls' play space.
I was not welcome, and the girls burst into a derogatory song for a boy among the girls. One who does, is called ntili (one always in the company of girls).
They sang, saying that I was a ntili, to my serious embarrassment.
A year ago, I found myself as a ntili equivalent. This time, around women.
This could qualify me as one who entered the birthplace of a newly born before rights being performed. The song, however, was one of welcome. But the schedule was very punishing.
Professor Lulama Makhubela was the traditional birth attendant into whose birth space I found myself as the offender.
She was the lead author and editor of a desktop research mission of South Africa Women In Dialogue (Sawid) report that had women authors. The aim was to complete the report by the end of December 2021.
The impulse for this was precipitated by the passing of Dr Vuyo Mahlati, a sister who led me into the girls' play space and walked me into the birth space where Makhubela was the traditional birth attendant.
Like the late Vuyo, (May Her Soul Rest In Peace) Makhubela was a tough task master who stuck to the deadline of December 31, 2021.
I experienced a different derogation for entering the birthplace. Not only did I write a whole chapter, but I was elevated to be a co-editor of the Sawid report.
Amongst the innovations contained in the report is design thinking in the implementation of the focus of the report, which is gender.
Another was gender-driven economic policy that critiqued the current resource allocation policies that deepen gender inequality and engender gender-based violence.
The Sawid study has generated important material that should trigger longitudinal research to keep us focused on the question of opening the space for the 52% of the population in the path determination of South Africa’s development.
The report has attracted the attention of many stakeholders in South Africa and multilateral institutions, both in Africa and beyond.
A key interest has been sparked by the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), and we had to present the results to the Nedlac on the invitation of the South African representative on APRM.
The other output of the study is the interaction with civil society actors in economic activities with the intention of co-creating solutions for ensuring that women participate in defining their future and those of their children.
Like those who listened to Anton Lembede on the matter of Freedom in Our Lifetime, but without Lembede when it happened in 1994, Makhubela was able to deliver Mahlati’s vision of design thinking and immersion of the “nitli” in women's struggles. Mahlati decided to volunteer as the traditional birth attendant.
Makhubela did not sing a derogatory song for transgressing the rules of the birth place, nor did she allow the girls to sing me as a ntili.
I felt welcome. It is in our hands now, and I am sure Makhubela will continue with the tough task mastery Mahlati volunteered her to perform and see through the eventuation of a longitudinal study.
Dr Pali Lehohla is the director of the Economic Modelling Academy, a Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, a Research Associate at Oxford University, a board member of Institute for Economic Justice at Wits and a distinguished Alumni of the University of Ghana. He is the former Statistician-General of South Africa.
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