African Tailor Made and Shembe Movement in South Africa

Abstract: Drawing from the case of the Shembe movement, the paper discusses a case of South Africa's spiritual practices and movements labeled as ‘esoteric’ and ‘New Age’, from the lens of Syncretism as a combination of Zulu culture and Christianity. It examines how African traditional religion (ATR) is a fertile ground for the spread and amalgamation of Syncretism by tracing the history of the Shembe movement and the relevance of symbols in Shembe spiritual practice ['zihlabelelo Za Manazaretha', 'sacred texts written by the founder Isaiah Shembe, cowskin/ leopard skin attires as church uniforms, ancestral honouring, animal sacrificing and 'Nhlangakazi', the Holy Mountain of the Shembe]. It also hghlights how the Shembe Church blends two seemingly incompatible philosophies of Shembe ideas and practices(culture) into religion. Data was generated from field study, visit to Shembe Ebuhleni Village, interviews, Focus group discussion oral source, documentary, observation and photovoice Also, Shembe typifies the African Independent Church as a strategy to decolonize Western spirituality and foreign influence as deoloniality of religion.

Presenter bio: Samuel is a facilitator, researcher and senior tutor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban South Africa. He holds a Master’s degree in History and Strategic studies with several years of research experiences in South Africa and Nigeria. Samuel is a member of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, South Africa, Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) the USA, International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) and an Alumni Institute of Security Studies (ISS), and Nairobi, Kenya. Previously, he was engaged as a field researcher with the KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Province. He also teaches Theology and Religious Studies in different seminary schools. His research interest focuses on Governance, Democratic Institutions, Migration, History, Witchcraft Studies, Religious beliefs and Science in Contemporary Society.

Institution: The Management College of Southern Africa (MANCOSA)