The impact of Izikhothane youth sub-culture on parents : a pastoral challenge

Abstract

Izikhothane, a group of youth that practices competitive showmanship of being able to waste or destroy the most expensive items bought has emerged. This sub-culture is particularly practised and popular in the Gauteng Province of South Africa (Townships). Parents have raised serious concerns about this un-African and un-Godly behaviour displayed by the young people (ages 13 – 25 years) who subscribe to this Izikhothane sub-culture. The traumatic experience of powerless community elders witnessing the burning of their hard-earned paper money by their children has made them believe that the children are a lost generation that needs spiritual intervention, hence as elders, they ask for prayers of deliverance from their spiritual leaders. These are parents who work hard, sacrifice themselves to make ends meet just to make sure their children get a meal, have uniforms and books for school. Parents who have to provide a decent life for the whole family, most of them being single parents and women.

This study argues that the children's behaviour does demand intervention of pastors, especially those equipped with skills and abilities to practice and pastors deal with community challenges to be able to bring change, order, healing, relief, and reconciliation amongst the residents. Through practical methods of intervention from authors such as Pollard, Mucherena, and also from qualitative methodologies pastors could make a difference in the affected communities. This study intends to navigate this sub-culture of Izikhothane, analyse it, gather qualitative data on it, list findings, and later on, recommend solutions that the pastors could implement.

This study on Izikhothane investigates the impact of its existence as a sub-culture in our township communities of this sub-culture and inconveniences or harm it brings to the elderly people who willingly or unwillingly sponsor or support. It argues that this youth sub-culture is foreign in most Africans, it is possibly a result of Western culture's influence on an African child. Parents of the children who are members of Izikhothane sub-culture groups are traumatized and suffer severely.

In this study, the aim is to find a practical caring healing methodology that can deal with the pain experienced and suffered by the parents of these children. Pollard and Mucherera's pastoral methodologies will be used to advance the arguments of the parents whilst also assisting the church to respond practically to these challenges by providing pastors with a healing methodology.