DURBAN Gen’s producers have defended themselves against cultural experts.
This after Dr Nomagugu Ngobese of Nomkhubulwane Institute and Loyiso Nqevu slammed one of the episodes where Agatha Dlamini, played by Nompumelelo Mthombeni, can be seen performing a cleansing ritual on Dr Mbali Mthethwa.
They complained this episode was distorting culture and that Agatha as a widow who has not been cleansed cannot perform a cleansing ritual for Mbali, because they both need to be cleansed.
But the producers have now come out to clear the air.
According to Bennum van Jaarsveld from e.tv, this particular episode was meant to be exactly like that.
Van Jaarsveld said: “Durban Gen, being a fictional television series, tries to strike a balance between competing factors, entertainment, authenticity and responsibility.
“While we acknowledge the ceremony in question would routinely be performed by a person who hasn’t herself suffered a loss, in this particular case, there was no one in the family who was in that position.
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“Because of what the character of Agatha wanted and needed from Mbali, she was not able to seek someone from outside her family to do the ceremony. This is because they most likely would’ve refused to do it for the reasons that Agatha wanted it done. The conditions she put on Mbali to do the cleansing would’ve exposed a dark side to her, she would not like anyone else to know.
“The fact that the ceremony was carried out in the way it was and by whom it was, speaks to the character of Agatha, who is now in the position of deciding to flout cultural norms and conventions to get what she wants.
“This unfortunately, while not portraying an accurate cultural practice, is certainly consistent and authentic to many people and human nature itself; that tempts people to bend the rules and do things incorrectly for their own personal gains or objectives.”
He said the criticism was welcomed and correct.
“Within the context of this, Agatha’s journey as a character combined with Mbali’s desperation and lack of cultural knowledge as a character, the events are authentic to the character, story and journey we are on with them. And this portrayal would better be understood, not as a accurate depiction of a cultural practice, but a distortion brought about by two characters desperate to get what they want by any means necessary,” said Van Jaarsveld.
