Between the Affirmative and the Decolonial: Narratives of Ukuthwasa as Neurodivergence on Social Media in South Africa

In South Africa, traditional healing and indigenous knowledge systems are formally recognised. However, persistent epistemological domination by the West is reflected in ambivalent attitudes towards culturally specific beliefs and practices. In South African Nguni languages such as isiZulu and isiXhosa, the word ukuthwasa refers to a call to do ancestral work or become a traditional healer. Such a call often manifests itself with symptoms that, from a Western perspective, could be interpreted as suggesting neurodivergence. In recent years, mental health attracted increasing public and media attention in South Africa, where up to one in three people is estimated to suffer from mental health issues. The people concerned are understood and represented in terms of either deficit (medical model) or deviation from the norm (social model). More recent and progressive understandings of disability foreground voice and experience as part of an affirmative model. We analyse purposively selected online texts (X, Instagram, and Facebook posts) concerning ukuthwasa. These provide evidence of social media (self) representations sourced from the accounts of traditional healers, hashtags related to specific incidents, and searches using keywords in English or isiXhosa. Through a qualitative content analysis, presented thematically, the present paper contributes with a critical and decolonial exploration of the representation of ukuthwasa as a culture-bound condition in digital media.