Why traditional leaders are opposed to ‘Inxeba’

President of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa), Kgosi Mokoena, said on Radio 702 the movie Inxeba reveals too much of the Xhosa culture of ukwaluka and undermines and ridicules it, which is why Contralesa is against the film.

“Those who saw the film this morning, some of them even women, who called and cried to say no please come to our rescue because what we are seeing here is like exposing my own wife giving birth to a child,” Mokoena said.

The national House of Traditional Leaders made a late night attempt yesterday to stop the screening of the controversial movie.

The application, which sought to block the screening of the movie in theatres today, was heard in the Pretoria High Court last night. However, it was not successful.

This week, the same court lifted the X18 rating of the film which meant it could be screened in cinemas around the country.

Mokoena said though the Congress does not agree with the judge’s decision, it still respects it.

“If the judge had some idea of what we are talking about I think the verdict would have been something else,” he said.

He vowed that the Congress would continue to support court actions trying to prevent the movie being screened in local movie houses. Another court matter dealing with the issue is scheduled for March 28.

“We will be there … just to show that we are totally against this thing,” Mokoena said.

He said the movie producers are exploiting culture so that they can be awarded prestigious international movie awards and benefit financially.

He added they are not against the entire film but had issues with certain scenes which ridicule African culture.

Mokoena said it would have been better had traditional leaders been consulted on the production of the movie.

Another issue with the film, he said, was that there are scenes with explicit nudity.

“There is this other part where they are portraying these initiates, some of them, as gays in our initiation schools – something that does not happen there,” Mokoena said.

He said caregivers at initiation schools would never allow such incidents to take place, adding that the Congress is however not against homosexuality.

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