• Milestone "ikrwala": 

In traditional Xhosa society: a newly circumcised youth. A graduate of an initiation school.

Amaxhosa are a diversity of proud clans and these clans differ in their ways of practicing culture and customs. 
A graduate marched back from initiation school to their parental homes, the young men went indoors where girls of their own age helped them to smear themselves from top to bottom with a mixture of oil and red ochre. Every day, for the following year, the boy had to refresh his red ochre. He also had to walk slowly to demonstrate his humility and to signify that he was still a “small’, unimportant man. 

The different ways in which clothes and other accessories were worn signaled the status of the wearer and the clan he comes from, you can make a distinct differentiation in the way they dress, the smearing of the red ochre and the period they had to be ikrwala. The intensity of the color varying from clan to clan. you can see a mpondo new initiate by his dress code, and the intensity of the red ochre,including being on that milestone for a year,refer to figure 1. And you can also see the Xhosa new initiate, he throws a long scarf over one shoulder, which also serves as a cloak when it gets cold and he doesn't smear the red ochre, being on that milestone for a period of 6 months, refer to figure 2. today you see amakrwala wearing designer jerseys with a similar design of the mpodo headdress, and they also smear ochre that is not intense as that of the mpondo. being on that milestone for as long as they feel like, refer to figure 3. This a new look of an ikrwala.

Cultural and community roles of ikrwala:
Cooking and washing up is done by these young men, and these young men are served with a dish separate from that of the senior men. Different ones from the elderly men take turns in lecturing to these young men, Gifts..are given by relatives and friends to enable them to set out in their new way of life. these roles were also used as an indicator of status, as Xhosa man had roles in their culture and communities.

figure 1. Mpondo graduate.

figure 2. Xhosa graduate.

  

figure 3. new style. mordern look.