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Manhood for the youngest Mantashe

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Kamva Mantashe graduated from an initiation school on Saturday. The ceremony was held at his home in Lower Cala in the small town of Cala, Eastern Cape. Picture: Lubabalo Ngcukana/City Press
Kamva Mantashe graduated from an initiation school on Saturday. The ceremony was held at his home in Lower Cala in the small town of Cala, Eastern Cape. Picture: Lubabalo Ngcukana/City Press

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe celebrated the safe return of his son Kamva from the initiation school in his village of Lower Cala, Eastern Cape, along with hundreds of villagers, family and friends.

A proud Mantashe, who missed his party’s Siyanqoba rally in Port Elizabeth for the occasion, welcomed Kamva back home after more than four weeks at the initiation school.

Kamva (18) is the youngest of Mantashe and wife Nolwandle’s four children, born after daughters Chuma and Mbasa, and son Buyambo.

During ukuyala, a ceremony in which older men give words of wisdom to a young man fresh from initiation school, Mantashe told Kamva: “You are now a man. We must see that in your actions and character. You must make sure that you keep your home safe and look after your community as a responsible man,” he said.

Mantashe also acknowledged Kamva’s traditional nurse and asked for feedback. Kamva’s cousin, Lonwabo Mantashe, assured his uncle that his son learnt a lot.

Two cattle, and dozens of sheep and chickens, were slaughtered for the ceremony, and Kamva was presented with gifts ranging from cows, sheep and goats, to money, furniture, clothes and a Bible.

Guests included unionist Frans Baleni and actor Seputla Sebogodi of Generations fame.

Kamva, a first-year law student at the University of the Western Cape, told City Press: “I think one of the things I will take from this experience is patience and taking well-thought-out decisions.”

He also praised his father for being a down-to-earth and present father who taught him a lot about life, and his mother for being both stern and caring.

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