Ikrwala.

Ikrwala:

Figure 1 - This is Ikrwala (a little unimportant man) he is wearing a western style outfit and he is smeared with red ochre from head to toe carrying a stick.. 

The fifth stage of the Xhosa man milestone I will discuss is Ikrwala. It refers to a young unimportant man. A newly graduate initiated young Xhosa male to manhood. This is at the age around 25-35 years old.

Ikrwala wears a western-style outfit of clothes, in which he will eventually go out in the world. The graduate is then referred to as Ikrwala (a little un important man). Every day for a year he has to refresh his red ochre, he has to walk slowly, he may not run, as that is regarded as arrogant. Ikrwala has to demonstrate his humility. (See fig 1). According to (Elliot 1969:137) “after 3 months, he has to give away his clothes and after 3 years, he can look for a wife”. In this stage, I will be looking at the significance of his behaviour at this stage of his milestone as a young unimportant man.

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