Denis, Philippe. "The rise of traditional African religion in post-apartheid South Africa". Missionalia, Vol.34, No.2 (2006): 310-323.

Denis, Philippe. "The rise of traditional African religion in post-apartheid South Africa". Missionalia, Vol.34, No.2 (2006): 310-323.

• In contrast to the Apartheid regime, which promoted Christianity and kept close ties with the Dutch Reformed Church in particular, the 1994 South African Constitution created a secular state. In this new environment, though still dominated by Christianity, traditional African religion has started to make a comeback (310).
• Traditional African religions in South Africa do not refer to a specific institution, doctrine, or practice, but a number of different and unregulated faith practices designed to create harmony between the world of the living and ancestral spirits. It does not usually reflect actual 'traditional' beliefs, but is a diverse and constantly evolving concept (311).
• Colonial authorities in South Africa had traditionally been very opposed to African religions, attempting to suppress these practices during the 18th Century. By the 19th Century, attitudes had lessened and missionaries attempted to work with African faiths as a basis for Christianity. By the 1910s, Christianity had many African converts (312).
• With success of Christian conversions during the 19th Century, attitudes towards traditional African religions hardened again, and in 1957 the Apartheid government passed an act criminalizing witchcraft and many other traditional African religious practices. This law was never enforced in practice, however (312).
• The end of Apartheid has created a situation where traditional African religions have reemerged due to a collapse of the established religious order, a reinvigoration of belief in African pride and tradition, and widespread fear in the wake of the AIDS/HIV epidemic (313).
• The post-Apartheid government has created a number of opportunities to restore traditional religious and healing practices, often interrelated, to prominence. In an attempt to 'de-colonize' the medical field, the South African government has allowed indigenous groups to claim intellectual property rights over medicinal plants used by the group. This promotion of traditional African healers as sources of legitimate knowledge has allowed traditional religious healers to claim state support and spread their practices (314-316).
• This change has mainly come from extending official recognition in the medical and scientific fields to traditional healing practices. In 1998, the South African government modified legislation to make traditional medicines legal to prescribe and subject to regulation by the Ministry of Health. The government is also gradually moving towards the recognition and regulation of traditional healers as a profession (316-317).
• These moves have caused significant backlash, particularly the moves towards regulating traditional healers, from both conservative Christian groups and the professional medical community. Prominent doctors have spoken out against traditional healing practices, and mobilized communities against its legitimacy (317).
• The traditional South African practice of 'virginity testing', which had largely died out during the 20th Century, has experienced a surprising resurgence in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal due to the AIDS/HIV epidemic. Communities have rallied around the ceremony, invoking traditional Zulu deities to guarantee the virginity of the girls being inspected by their older female relatives (319).
• The practice is supported by conservative elements of society, who view it as a way to discourage pre-marital sex and other delinquent behavior, preventing the spread of AIDS/HIV. Others argue that the practice is humiliating and sexist, with those girls with torn hymens being subject to abuse and discrimination following the ritual (319).
• The practice received public attention in the early 2000s, as local authorities in KwaZulu-Natal initially supported and financed the practice as a way to discourage the spread of AIDS/HIV. In June 2005, however, the practice was banned under the Children's Act as abuse of minors, amid widespread controversy and local support for the practice (320).
• The main divisions likely to manifest regarding traditional African religious practices in South Africa are over the compatibility of traditional religious beliefs with the liberal democratic principles of the South African state. Traditional religious doctrine is deeply patriarchal and discriminatory towards youth, raising numerous potential conflicts with the ideals of the post-Apartheid South African state (321).