TRADITIONAL HEALERS, THEIR SERVICES AND THE AMBIVALENCE OF SOUTH AFRICAN YOUTH

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Marikana massacre in 2012, a number of observers raised questions about young men’s traditional beliefs. Did young miners apply muthi on their bodies believing that they would be invincible in the face of police bullets? How do young men generally, in the course of wrestling everyday challenges, draw on ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ medicine? The findings in the literature seem to be contradictory and mediated by age differentials, educational levels, and place of residence. In this article, both qualitative and quantitative evidence is drawn upon to offer insight into the views of young men in a particular site: Chiawelo, in Soweto. The study suggests that while young men do not hold a special place for traditional healers in their lives, their insecure life circumstances and the dynamics of the groups to which they affiliate, lead them when necessary to consult traditional healers for immediate or out-of-the-ordinary help, particularly if trusted institutions do not provide satisfactory assistance. The study links and uses the theoretical constructs, ‘socialisation’, ‘habitus’ and ‘anomie’.