Yesterday I was driving back to Joburg from Mpumalanga against Easter exodus traffic. As I approached Joburg traffic was so bad that the highway was at a complete standstill leaving Joburg and clogged with Kumbis. I found out that the reason was that the Zion Christian Church has an annual trip to their holy mountain in Limpopo (also east of Joburg) over Easter, and that caused the absurd traffic.
The black South African I was with explained that it is a mix of Christianity and native superstitions, involves communing with ancestors, trips to this holy mountain, some holy tea/water that makes people vomit, and that it is very hierarchical. From some quick research it seems there are ~4m members, or ~8% of SA’s population, and that this is mostly concentrated among three tribes.
I have seen a lot of blacks wearing green ribbons with silver stars on them, almost like a sheriff badge on a green ribbon. I found out that this is the symbol of someone in the ZCC, along with special clothes I’d seen – blue/white bishop-looking robes, khaki uniforms with service covers, etc. Everything sort of clicked then.
The black South African I was with explained that it is a mix of Christianity and native superstitions, involves communing with ancestors, trips to this holy mountain, some holy tea/water that makes people vomit, and that it is very hierarchical. From some quick research it seems there are ~4m members, or ~8% of SA’s population, and that this is mostly concentrated among three tribes.
I have seen a lot of blacks wearing green ribbons with silver stars on them, almost like a sheriff badge on a green ribbon. I found out that this is the symbol of someone in the ZCC, along with special clothes I’d seen – blue/white bishop-looking robes, khaki uniforms with service covers, etc. Everything sort of clicked then.
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