Participant observation

From the onset I was able to conduct participant observation. More specifically, I became a participant observer at the services of the ZCC in Marabastad. Bernard (2011:260) differentiated between an observing participant as an “insider” observing and taking notes of certain aspects of the lives of people around her/him, and a participant observer as an “outsider” only participating in certain aspects of the lives of those people being observed. As Adam Kuper (1993:63) explained, I participated “above all in order to be able to observe without intruding. Participation was less a means of observation than a means of gaining access to opportunities to observe”.

According to available literature on the ZCC, it seems that only a few researchers have used participant observation in a South African context, including Anderson (2000:xiii, 19, 148), who attended three ZCC Sunday services at the Soshanguve congregation in 1992; Mosupyoe (1999:xiii, 45), who participated in the Garankuwa ZCC congregation’s Sunday services during 1992; and Müller (2011:3, 21), who from May to November 2005 participated as “a cross-cultural observer” at the Mamelodi congregation, twice at the Zion City Moria, and travelled with members to Kimberley (Northern Cape) and Gaborone (Botswana) on occasions where the Bishop had been invited to pray for the people. Müller’s field research experiences resonate the most with mine, though as a man he engaged more with male participants.

During my studies I was constantly aware that being female I was treated as a female participant and consequently female members regularly assisted me. In this regard Gordon (1993:116) explained that, in trying to be as truthful and objective as possible when doing fieldwork and writing ethnography, “[t]he answer seems to be a crafted consciousness in which a woman does not deny that she is a woman and is attentive to gender in her own treatment, her own actions, and in the interactions of people in the community she is writing about”. Thus, I was conscious of the fact that being female influenced the kind of activities I participated in, the kind of knowledge that was made available to me, my observations and the way in which I was going to present my obtained data. Being female definitely gave me a better insight into female behavioural rules, regulations and activities, especially because I was automatically included into those female activities not open to male participation. Women also more easily relate to other women, particularly in a ZCC context where

27

women do not easily speak to men other than their husbands, baruti and prophets. For the same reasons, to some extent being a female will also have limited my access to and understanding of information concerning male members (see Bernard 2011:280–281; see Niehaus 2006:81).

Within the ZCC community, I was treated as a somewhat peculiar novice, which was of course the result of being a white South African and a rather tall one as well. Thus, although officially I was a junior participant, I was always seated in the front row close to the platform between the senior women, who were always smartly dressed in their yellow and green uniforms, during Sunday services. The particular sitting arrangements are discussed further in section 4.2.1. Other white female participants and members who occasionally attended Sunday Services received this same kind of treatment. Therefore, although I wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible, this was not possible due to my physical appearance. Luckily I was honoured with the friendship of other junior female participants and my interpreters were perceived as juniors as well. In many other respects I was treated as any other newcomer, strictly, but shown care and respect.

Language was an issue. The most common languages spoken at ZCC gatherings are Pedi, Zulu and occasionally Afrikaans. My family moved from the Netherlands to South Africa when I was still attending primary school, therefore my home language is Dutch. My further schooling and university education (including an honours degree) was conducted in Afrikaans. After leaving university I operated in an English and Afrikaans-speaking environment. During my sessions of participant observation conversations were most commonly conducted in Afrikaans. Lack of fluency in the Pedi or Zulu languages has affected the precision of my fieldwork data. I have tried to counteract this shortcoming by using interpreters to check my fieldwork data. That I am not a first-language English speaker and also conducted most of the research in Afrikaans might have affected how data has been conveyed in this study. I have tried to convey gathered information as accurately as possible.

As I used participant observation as my primary research tool a large percentage of my data is based on personal experiences and observations, particularly before, during and after services. Many of the descriptions used in this study reflect my perception of events and phenomena. I participated in prophesying sessions, healing

28

activities and other activities during services. I received concomitant explanations of activities from priests, prophets and male and female members of the congregation during this participation. These experiences provided me with the insight needed to develop informal interview questions. Kiernan (1990:iv-v) noted that as he “enjoyed robust health” during his participant observation of Zulu-speaking Zionists he was unable to participate in healing activities. Perhaps fortunately for me, the prophets indicated that my health and the protection thereof needed divine attention.

Several baruti had implied that using recording devices, notepads and cameras was not allowed within church premises. I had to memorise my observations and write them up afterwards. This extended the time I had to spend in the field (see Pelto & Pelto 1988:69–70). To facilitate this process, I followed Bernard’s (2011:274–275) recommendations on building an accurate memory. One of the exercises was to walk past a store window and as soon as you could not see it anymore write down all the things that were in the window. You become acutely aware of how much you do not see unless you concentrate, and “you’ll start to create mnemonic devices for remembering more of what you see” (Bernard 2011:274–275). He advised mapping the physical space in which one was practising participant observation and remembering events in historical sequence. I followed his advice. My map can be seen in section 4.2.

1.5.2.3 Interviews

I conducted a combination of informal and unstructured interviews with general research participants and semi-structured interviews with key research participants. I have used the term informal interview to refer to a normal conversation during which I did not try to control the topic of discussion and the term unstructured interview to refer to a conversation in which I tried to direct the conversation, but exercised minimum control over their responses. In other words I tried to give research participants the freedom to express themselves according to their own needs. This meant that I was not able to cover all the topics equally in all interviews.

I was mostly not able to take notes during any of the interviews, as most were conducted on church grounds where taking notes was frowned upon. Even when interviews were conducted off site, members tended to become nervous and end the

29

conversation if I started writing down their responses. Informal interviews usually happened where and whenever the opportunity arose. They transpired relatively naturally with due allowance for my given circumstances as an anthropologist or, more specifically, as an outsider within their religious environment. I used an interview guide and tried to cover certain topics during a specific discussion for the semi-structured interviews, and again exercised minimum control over their responses. I usually scheduled semi-structured interviews by appointment, met the interviewees at a specific place and at a certain time (Bernard 2011:157–158).

I conducted most interviews in Afrikaans as this was a language interviewees were comfortable conversing in. Only a few research participants preferred to be interviewed in English. During the second period of research (2003) my interpreter Martha would pose questions in the Pedi language as well and then translate the answers into Afrikaans. Research participants, however, tended to translate what they had told Martha in the Pedi language into Afrikaans themselves so that I would be able to understand what they were saying. Martha was of continuous assistance during these types of interviews in providing clarity on certain aspects to the participants and to me. This enabled me to a certain extent to clarify specifically what I wanted to know and to steer conversations into the preferred direction. Her presence had a positive influence on members during services, especially when they had to guide me through sensitive ritual procedures or explain certain practices and beliefs that were private in nature, such as the taboos surrounding menstruation.

There were six key research participants in particular in this study – three female and three male ZCC members. One male and one female were between 25 and 35, one male and one female were between 40 and 50 and one male and one female were between 60 and 70 years of age. Besides numerous informal conversations, I have conducted a combination of informal and unstructured interviews with approximately 24 other members who were mostly female and fell between 25 and 65 years of age. All of the research participants had received some formal schooling. I am, however, only aware of 10 that completed high school and two that had higher diplomas. Most of the general research participants were not selected according to particular criteria other than their membership of the ZCC. Many at first had approached me and engaged in general conversation. I then asked them if they would be willing to assist

30

me with my study of the ZCC and if they were willing I conducted an informal or unstructured interview right away.

1.5.2.4 Validation of data

To substantiate and evaluate my acquired research data, I repeatedly covered the same kind of topics using different approaches with different members (dependent on their gender, age group and seniority) during different services. I attended approximately 21 full services and participated repeatedly in various activities. I validated data with the assistance of my interpreters/translators during the second and third period of my fieldwork. To broaden my general knowledge on ZCC activities and for the purpose of a comparative analysis Martha, Moruti Mampuru and I attended a full day’s activities (7:00 to 19:00), which included a service at the Zion City Moria. I have also compared experiences and other acquired data with available literature on the ZCC and when possible with the information presented in the available ZCC Messengers.

It became clear to me throughout my fieldwork that members do not always share the same perspectives on religious beliefs and practices. The ways in which members understand religious beliefs, practices and conduct within a ZCC context seem to depend on a variety of factors such as differences in levels and kinds of education and differences in world-views8 that exist between younger and older generations, rural and urban inhabitants, and different ethnic affiliations. Members’ previous religious background and the duration of their ZCC membership can also influence their perspectives. It is not therefore possible to conclude that everything written in this study applies uniformly to all ZCC members and congregations.

My own perspectives will also have influenced my representation of this data. It was my intent to produce an accurate account of my experiences and acquired knowledge through participant observation and reviewed literature.

8

In this study, world-view refers to how a person perceives everything s/he is aware of, such as humans, nature, the universe and the supernatural. A shared world-view refers to a group’s shared attitudes, values and beliefs (Seymour-Smith 1986:291).

31

1.5.2.5 Objectivity

Can any “outsider” or researcher be objective (see Anderson 2000:10)? Sundkler (1961:16) referred to himself as a white outsider in a black religious environment and therefore unable to “reach the heart of the matter”. This is relevant to my study as well as I am a white female and an outsider in the ZCC. In spite of my regular participation in services, which would definitely have reduced the problem of reactivity, I am sure most members still acted differently around and toward me because I was visibly identifiable as an outsider (see Bernard 2011:265–266).

Sundkler (1961:16) also emphasised that any researcher’s own values and ideals become intertwined into her/his research, from the data-collecting stage through to the final presentation. He thought it best to state his value premises openly. This kind of explicitness or biased approach is not allowed in anthropology. An anthropologist aims to not judge people, but rather to understand the sociocultural system in which the focus group resides in terms of the meaning that it has for the members thereof. It is therefore clear that cultural phenomena, such as values and customs, must be evaluated in terms of the culture of the society in which they are found and not according to a researcher’s own ideas, values and beliefs because this will result in a biased interpretation of the acquired data (Nanda & Warms 2014:12). This approach, known as cultural relativism, was a point of reference in my investigation of the healing practices of the ZCC (Barfield 2001:98). However, I accept and acknowledge that unconsciously my value and belief systems will have affected the outcome of this study because to obtain a state of absolute objectivity seems to be impossible (see Bernard 2011:278–279; Maluleke 2003:203).

Anderson (2000:10–11) uses various sources to show that it is impossible for a researcher to be totally detached, particularly in a religious environment. He also notes that “without the inevitable subjectivity of religious research, no human knowledge is possible”. Anderson says that for any encounter to be authentic, “a genuine and open rapport, without ulterior motives, between the researcher and those being researched who must become co-subjects and co-researcher is essential”. I have tried to apply this in my research.

32

1.5.2.6 Presentation of data

I integrated my own reflections on my fieldwork experiences, including my feelings and points of tension and anxiety, into my fieldwork notes and have used some of these in this study. I have personally experienced many of the events and activities recorded in this study and I am honoured to have been allowed to participate in them. This process has enriched my life.

It was therefore a natural cause of events to include myself into the ethnographic part of this study (see Thomas 1999:12). According to Tedlock (1991:77–8), this kind of presentation could be referred to as a narrative ethnography. She said that:

... [t]he author of a narrative ethnography deals with experiences, but along with these come ethnographic data, epistemological reflections on fieldwork participation, and cultural analysis. The world, in a narrative ethnography, is re-presented as perceived by a situated narrator, who is also present as a character in the story that reveals his [/her] own personality. This enables the reader to identify the consciousness which has selected and shaped the experiences within the text.

1.6 Terminology

I have included a list of abbreviations and glossary for purposes of clarity.

1.7 Structure of dissertation

This dissertation consists of six chapters and a bibliography.

Chapter 1 presents my motivation and purpose for this dissertation. I have indicated the territorial demarcation and discussed the methodology and theoretical framework that informs my investigation. I have also given an overview of consulted literature, that include references to the lives of some of the main scholars of traditional African religions and AICs that had a specific impact on my understanding of AICs.

Chapter 2 investigates the establishment and development of AICs in southern Africa. I interrogated the terminology used to refer to AICs and included a motivation for the use of the appellation AICs in this study. I further investigated different

33

systems of classification of AICs, rationale for the existence of AICs, and the general historical development of AICs in order to gain a better understanding of the ZCC’s historical roots and composition. Lastly, I attempted to reconstruct the ZCC’s history of origin enabling an understanding of how its healing ministry came into existence.

Chapter 3 interrogates the concepts of ill-health versus health and healing versus curing in an anthropological context. I further explored broad trends in traditional African healing practices in an attempt to comprehend the nature of healing practices found within Spirit-type AICs of which the ZCC is an example. In conclusion, I pay attention to the general nature of healing, specifically in Spirit-type AICs to facilitate a better understanding of healing in a ZCC context.

Chapter 4 describes my experience of the physical layout of the Marabastad congregation’s church ground and the prescribed dress code on the premises. I discussed the ZCC dress code and its possible meanings and functions, as well as presenting the general code of conduct. Further, the chapter discussed participants in healing services, their roles and how they attain their status within the ZCC.

Chapter 5 outlines general service procedures in order to understand the context in which healing practices occur. I explored various facilitators and instruments of healing in this chapter. God is, however, perceived as the main source of healing. I also discussed notions of health and perceived causes of illness, including misfortunate events, to understand healing practices more thoroughly.

Chapter 6 revisits the conclusions developed in the preceding chapters and summarises and highlights the main issues in the dissertation.

34

CHAPTER 2 HISTORICAL SETTING

2.1 Introduction

This chapter outlines the primary processes present during the establishment and development of AICs. I clarify the terminology used by various scholars to refer to AICs, as well as motivate for the specific use of the appellation “AICs”. The distinctive characteristics of AICs make it possible to broadly classify them. I have done this by conducting a historical study of different systems of scholarly classification pertaining to AICs.

I explore the rationale for the AICs existence to explain the significant growth in membership and investigate the AIC’s general history in southern Africa to gain a historical perspective of the ZCC and the origin of its healing practices. I then attempt to reconstruct the ZCC’s unique history to gain a better understanding of its composition, including its significant healing ministry.