The fifth stage is Ikrwala. It refers to a young unimportant man. A newly graduate initiated young Xhosa male to manhood. This is at the age of 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 referred to as Ikrwala (a little unimportant 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 considered as arrogant. Ikrwala has to demonstrate his humility. (See fig 1). According to Elliot, A., (1970:137) “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 behavior at this stage of his milestone as a young unimportant man. (Elliot, 1970) |
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