The First Fruits Festival, which occurs annually in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, on the first Saturday in December, is a Zulu cultural event intended to celebrate the coming-of-age of Zulu warriors. The young warriors—teenage boys as young as 14 years old—are tasked to kill a bull with their bare hands to prove their courage. According to reports, approximately 40 young men push sand or mud down the bull’s throat, gouge out his eyes, and twist his genitals before kicking and beating the animal to death and tearing his flesh apart with their hands. Traditional rules reportedly dictate that no tools, not even a knife, be used during this event.
Please contact South African officials and urge them to ban this bloody First Fruits Festival tradition. Please send polite comments to:
Sonwabile MancotywaCEO, National Heritage Council of South Africanhc@nhc.org.za
Dr. Mongezi GumaChairperson, Commission for the Promotion & Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious & Linguistic Communitiesinfo@crlcommission.org.za
Keith RamsayDeputy Director of Animal Production, National Department of AgricultureKeithR@nda.agric.za
Mr Dirk du ToitDeputy Minister, Department of Land Affairssybillah@nda.agric.za