Clan praises are not museum pieces. They are used, out loud, at almost every important family occasion in South Africa. Here is when and how izithakazelo / iziduko / direto are spoken – and why knowing them matters at these moments in particular.
Greeting an elder or an in-law
The most everyday use. When you greet someone much older, or a member of the family you have married into, the respectful move is not “hello” but to bonga them – to recite their clan praises, or at least the first few lines. A new bride (makoti) is often expected to learn her husband’s family’s izithakazelo and use them daily. Getting them right signals that you know your place in the family and respect theirs.
Lobola negotiations
When two families meet to discuss lobola (bridewealth), they open by establishing who each side is – and that means clan names and praises, not surnames. The delegations confirm that the couple are not secretly of the same clan (which would forbid the marriage), and the exchange of praises sets a tone of mutual respect before the harder talk about cattle or money. A family that cannot state its praises is at a disadvantage in the room.
Weddings
At both the traditional wedding (umgcagco, umabo, go isa ngwetsi) and the celebration afterwards:
- The bride is formally welcomed into her new clan and taught its praises; she may be given a new clan-linked name.
- An imbongi or a gifted relative may perform the praises of both families as poetry.
- Gifts are received with the giver’s praises spoken in thanks.
Birth and naming
Ceremonies such as imbeleko (Xhosa) or the equivalent slaughter for a newborn introduce the child to the ancestors. The officiant calls the clan line – “this child of [ancestor], of [ancestor], of [clan]” – so that the correct ancestors know the child belongs to them and will protect it. A child whose paternity or clan is unresolved is, in this view, spiritually unattached, which is one reason clan identity is taken so seriously.
Funerals and mourning
At a funeral the praises do heavy work:
- The deceased is addressed by their full clan praises as the body is prepared and buried – a last honouring, and a way of formally handing them to the ancestors.
- After the burial, the family performs a rite to bring the spirit home (ukubuyisa among the Zulu, ho boela among the Basotho), again calling the clan line.
- Speakers at the service thank mourners clan by clan.
Speaking to the ancestors
Any time the family addresses the amadlozi / badimo / vhadzimu – before a journey, in illness, at a slaughter, when asking for guidance – the person leading names the clan ancestors in order. This is the core religious use of the praises, and the reason they are memorised as a fixed sequence: you are calling specific people by name.
What happens if you don’t know them
Not knowing your praises is common and is not shameful – apartheid removals, migrant labour, adoption and simply growing up in the city separated millions of people from the elders who carried them. But it creates real difficulty at exactly these moments: a lobola meeting stalls, a bride cannot be taught, a funeral officiant has to improvise, a family cannot perform ukubuyisa properly. This is why people often begin searching for their clan name when a wedding or a death is coming.
How to prepare
- Ask the oldest living relatives now, and record them (voice notes are fine). Ask specifically: our isibongo, our isiduko / seboko, the praise lines, the totem, where the family comes from.
- Write it down and share it with cousins – the knowledge survives best when several people hold it.
- Cross-check against published collections and sites like this one, but treat oral memory from your own elders as the primary source.
- See our step-by-step guide to tracing your clan name.
Sources and further reading
- Elizabeth Gunner & Mafika Gwala, Musho! Zulu Popular Praises (1991).
- W. D. Hammond-Tooke, Boundaries and Belief: The Structure of a Sotho Worldview (1981).
- Harriet Ngubane, Body and Mind in Zulu Medicine (1977) – on ancestors and ritual.
Recording your family’s praises for a wedding or funeral? We can help you check and lay them out. Send us a WhatsApp on 065 138 8213 or use our contact page.