By Dr Michelina Andreucci

“I AM an African… I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land.” — From a speech by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, on behalf of the ANC in Cape Town in May 1996.

THE legacy of colonialism continues to cast its shadow over the philosophies of hunhu/ubuntu.
In my articles, I have often alluded to the value and magnitude of indigenous African cultures, in particular the universal tenet of human goodwill known, as hunhu/ubuntu, that forms the foundation of the African concept of humanism, shared by all indigenous Africans on the mother continent, notwithstanding the diversity of cultures and sub-cultures, as a common ground of consciousness and conceptualised as a symbol of African identity.
This common consciousness, while varying in contextual modification, is the same for all African indigenous cultures and is the basis of the African identity.
In Zimbabwean indigenous traditions, this consciousness is also being referred to as ‘hunhu/ubuntu’.
But are the words ‘hunhu/ubuntu’ Zimbabwean?
Should we not be speaking of ‘chivanhu’ — which is the receptacle of hunhu/ubuntu, which is an element that has been extracted from the whole meaning of the word chivanhu and the principles it stands for?
Traditional African philosophy thrives on the vision of a moral, faultless individual who upholds the cultural value and norms of a true indigenous African society; its morality and ethics.
Central to such ethics is the assertion that each individual’s existence is inter-connected with the overall environment and that of the community in which he/she lives.
Discipline, morality, altruism, self and social consciousness, responsibility and duty are all definitives of hunhu/ubuntu/chivanhu.
Self-understanding, to act responsibly to self and others, ability to act upon a rational consciousness, according to society’s expectations, acknowledgment of the weight of judgment and the ability to accept the consequences of such judgments, are driven by a motive force encompassed within hunhu/ubuntu/chivanhu.
Hunhu/ubuntu means more than simply being; since the ‘being’ of an African person is imbedded in the community and the universe as a whole.
According to Samkange and Samkange (1980-89), they imply: ‘the attention one human being gives to another… The kindness, courtesy, consideration and friendly relationship between people… A (moral) code of behaviour, an attitude towards others and to life.’
A person with hunhu/ubuntu/chivanhu is one who keeps the African identity alive by upholding African cultural values, norms, standards and expectations.
In spite of struggles between members of a community — envy and hatred — every member can rely on support from somebody of the extended family when in serious trouble or in danger of their life.
According to educationist Dr Caiphus Nziramasanga, hunhu/ubuntu is: ‘humanity in the fullest and noblest sense’.
It thus characterises a perfect human being.
The Greek philosopher Plato summarised the 10 virtues of eternal happiness pursued by the Egyptian into four cardinal virtues, namely; justice, fortitude, prudence and temperance, which are all unreservedly embodied in the African utopian ideal of hunhu/ubuntu/chivanhu, together with truth and righteousness, which are all regarded as a direct conduit to man’s happier life.
In indigenous African traditions, a child is also considered to have hunhu/ubuntu if he/she listens to parents and elders without unnecessary questioning, not challenge authority, make demands or claim entitlements and ‘rights’; which according to African tradition are the sanction of the elders and cannot be demanded by a child.
The entitlements of rights can only be given at an elder’s discretion, to a child who exhibits adequate hunhu/ubuntu.
In our indigenous languages hunhu/ubuntu is expressed and articulated through the artistic expressions of proverbial orature (madimikira), or proverbs, folklore, music, dance and the physical enactments of indigenous decorum such as ‘kuuchira’, ‘kuombera’ and ‘kupfugama’, among others.
Hunhu/ubuntu was so ingrained in our physical language that performing arts such as dance still makes references to postures which articulate the decorum of the various sub-groups of people.
Zimbabwe’s knowledge of hunhu/ubuntu and its particular physical language enabled indigenous people to communicate inter-tribally and even inter-regionally.
Just as the English have their own specific body language pertaining to their manners such as bowing and curtsying, indigenous African people had a more complex and sophisticated body language that inculcated their hunhu/ubuntu within it.
Without hunhu/ubuntu/chivanhu, African societies would have long disintegrated, especially under the various onslaughts of Western cruelty and decadence; from slavery to colonisation to apartheid and more recently, forced child labour and the exportation and exploitation of young women to work as maids in the Middle-East and elsewhere.
In our culture-deficient society of today — which indigenous people have inherited from their erstwhile foreign masters — it makes sense that our study and revival of indigenous cultures are necessary crucial elements to nation building and a better society for all.
Our indifference to the norms of our culture should surely send shock waves to our elders who have allowed traditional cultural norms and edicts to fall by the wayside in the name of contemporary education and its perceived progress from the old ways.
Hunhu/ubuntu embodied the edicts that were issued as God’s 10 Commandments of: Love thy neighbour…, do unto others…, thou shalt not kill…, thou shalt not steal…, thou shalt not covet…, among others and the fact there is only one God.
Over time, one of the observations I have made was that hunhu/ubuntu/chivanhu carried within it the indigenous language of the people.
By virtue of the introduction of the English language as the main medium of education, instruction and communication, various aspects of indigenous cultures were removed from indigenous societies; one of these regrettably, was hunhu/ubuntu.
The Anglicised system of communication was centred on the individual – ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘my’, ‘myself’; whereas in African languages, pluralistic references are made as: ‘we’, ‘us’ and the community at large.
In the indigenous traditional views, moral responsibility is communal; a wrongdoing by an individual could have consequential results for the whole community and/or even the entire clan/tribe.
Accordingly, Dr Nziramasanga came to regard hunhu/ubuntu/chivanhu as a notion of a good human being, a good citizen, well behaved person, morally upright characterised by responsibility, honesty, justice, trustworthiness, integrity, solidarity, with a co-operative spirit; hospitality and devotion to the family as well as to the community’s welfare.
Additionally, the individual must abide by the laws and statutes of the country, respect elders (and those younger) and respect the leadership of the state, community, the whole ecological system and the world at large.
This is the indigenous African way of instilling discipline, character shaping and ultimately of generating hunhu/ubuntu.
Anything to the contrary in Zimbabwean traditions will be met with scorn – ‘Hausi hunhu ihwohwo’ (This is un-African).
While such a unilateral view of what constitutes hunhu/ubuntu may sound disempowering, this could be due to the lack of laid down standards or parameters for its enculturation and lack of understanding.
It is important that cultural continuity is fulfilled in the new curriculum to counter the colonial disruptions of African cultures and restore our lost identities and traditions.
What we require is a visionary approach to the restoration of an integrated system to mould an ideal Zimbabwean who today is still not exemplary of an African grounded in hunhu/ubuntu/chivanhu.
A national curriculum should be rooted on a socio-cultural structure that benefits the people and the nation.
Dr Michelina Rudo Andreucci is a Zimbabwean-Italian researcher, industrial design consultant lecturer and specialist hospitality interior decorator. She is a published author in her field.
For views and comments, email: linamanucci@gmail.com