Inopportunely, literature reveals that contemporary initiates receive negative teachings that condone maladaptive behaviour, such as sexual immorality, disrespect, disobedience and criminality (Kepe 2010). Furthermore, Sussman et al. (2004) assert that contemporary epoch initiates upon graduation are encouraged to engage in sexual relationships with multiple sexual partners to prove their masculinity. This runs counter to the cultural expectations and the goalposts of the TMC rite.

The traditional male circumcision rite has always been associated with the use of alcohol, such as traditional beer known as ‘umqombothi’ in isiXhosa. That was taken under control without any iota of abuse, but today, alcohol in contemporary TMC rites is a contributory factor to a culture of abusing alcohol in South Africa. Today, unlike in the past, contemporary initiates use various brands of alcohol from the West, such as brandy, beer and wines (Schultz & Schultz 2016). Customarily, traditional beer (umqombothi) was used during the first stage of initiation (Mpateni 2017). More so, umqombothi was also used during ‘umosiso’, which is the seventh day after the circumcision ritual, and they were also allowed to eat salty food. But paradoxically today, even the traditional nurses who look after initiates abuse alcohol, and there are myths that a real man profusely drinks alcohol such as brandy than a fake man. This largely contributes to a culture of alcoholism that is apparent today, hence affecting the behaviour of traditionally circumcised men.

Unequivocally, the contemporary initiates are influenced by forces of modernisation such as eurocentrism, media, globalisation and democracy (Kang’ethe 2014; Mcotheli 2006). This is because forces of development have introduced people to modern lifestyles, which are contrary to the cultural African traditions. In the same vein, Feni (2014) and Kheswa, and Dayi and Gqumani (2014), posit that because of modernisation, culture is in a state of attrition. This is critical considering the state of moral and behavioural deficits manifested in most African societies today, South Africa notwithstanding (Mbachi & Likoko 2013).

This study applied anomie theory. The first sociological use of the term anomie was attributed to French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) in his book Division of Labor in Society, which was initially published in 1893. Durkheim (1983), a founder of modern sociology, defines anomie as a state of lawlessness or normlessness (Downes, Rock & McLaughlin 2017). In the same vein, Coleman (2014) asserts that anomie is a state of societal imbalance, where the values and respected rules are no longer taken into serious consideration by society. Durkheim linked anomie to deviance, which is the behaviour that deviates from accepted and expected social norms and conducts (Boudon 2018). Furthermore, Bygnes (2016) and Webster, Lambert and Bezuidenhout (2008) assert that a situation of anomie occurs when either the processes by which morals and norms that are socially respected and sustained through steady patterns of social interaction are jeopardised through the spread of cultural norms that release egoism. This is one of the reasons the principal researchers chose this theory, as indeed there is a disruption of norms and values in TMC rituals (Mpateni 2017).

This theory is aptly applicable to what is happening to the initiates of today who display bad behaviours that society never sanctioned. These behavioural shortfalls include binge drinking, being disrespectful to the elders, manifesting violence and engaging in sexual overtures such as rape. Unequivocally, these behaviours run counter to the behaviour of the initiates of the yesteryears, whose most of the behaviours were socio-culturally fit. This explains the behavioural and moral deficits apparent in society today. That positions this theory in explaining the phenomenon of behavioural lapses displayed by contemporary TMC initiates.

Methodologically, this study espoused a qualitative approach in tandem with a qualitative paradigm that is interpretivism in nature to gain the people’s views of the participants (Rubin & Babbie 2015). This study took advantage of an exploratory and a descriptive research design, with a case study being the specific design. This is justifiable from the fact that only a few samples were investigated in depth to generate insights and perceptions on the differences in behaviours and morality between the contemporary and yesteryears TMC initiates (Creswell 2014). This is because the study described and explored as well as gave some explanations of the differences in behaviours and morality displayed by the two sets of initiates. This paradigm and approach do not allow the results to be generalised but form a platform to conduct other quantitative-based studies on the same domain.

As defined by Creswell (2014), a sample is a portion that is taken from the entire population or universe for representation of the entire population during data collection. The population in this study was made up of traditional leaders, contemporary TMC initiates, yesteryears’ TMC initiates, parents of the contemporary TMC initiates and those of the yesteryears’ TMC initiates, traditional surgeons (iingcibi) and traditional nurses (amakhankatha). The population in this study was selected from Cala, Sakhisizwe local municipality and Mdantsane, Buffalo City municipality in the Eastern Cape.

In this article, the purposive sampling technique of the non-probability sampling method was used to intuitively select samples that were considered knowledgeable to offer responses for the research. This resonates well with the definition by Creswell (2014) who defines non-probability sampling as a sampling where not all participants have an equal chance of being chosen in this study.

The data in this article were collected within a short span of time, in just a few weeks, thus qualifying it to be a cross-sectional study. Furthermore, the study made use of focus group discussions, one-on-one interviews and key informants’ interview research methods (Rubin & Babbie 2015). In an account of ethical ethos, the researcher distributed letters to community leaders and the chiefs of the study domain to gain access to the participants. During the interviews, this researcher jotted down the responses. The principal researcher also took note of the participants’ temperamental cues as well as his observations and intuition to augment the data from interviews and focus group discussions.

This article used an interview schedule to facilitate the focus group discussions and one-on-one interviews (Babbie 2014). The interview guide consisted of open-ended questions to allow the participants to freely express their insights.

This article considered only people who were knowledgeable about the TMC rite. Traditional male circumcision initiates were included in this study based on their direct involvement in the rite of TMC. Parents of both sets of initiates were sampled because of their experience and knowledge of cultural aspects and the behaviour and morality of their children. Furthermore, traditional nurses, or ‘amakhankatha’ and surgeons, or ‘iingcibi’ were included because they run the trade of the TMC rite. Parents with sons who have not undergone TMC and boys who have not undergone the rite were excluded. This study also excluded men who underwent medical male circumcision.

To analyse the data, the researcher used content thematic analysis by breaking down the voluminous mountains of raw data, through coding, into categories that constituted themes and subthemes (Rubin & Babbie 2015).

The domain of this article was Cala village of Sakhisizwe Local municipality and Mdantsane village of Buffalo city municipality, in the Eastern Cape province. This is because Cala is a small town, which is surrounded by rural areas that are mostly dominated by AmaXhosa who practice TMC. Mdantsane, on the other hand, is in an urban setting, but mostly inhabited by the AmaXhosa, who also practices TMC. Conducting this study in an urban and rural setting offered an opportunity for diversity and comparison.

With respect to the ethical guidelines of research, the principal researcher made all the essential arrangements before going out to recruit the research participants. Firstly, he applied for an ethical clearance certificate, which he obtained from the University of Fort Hare’s Research Ethics Committee (UREC) (KAN021SMPA01). Furthermore, the principal researcher wrote letters to community leaders seeking permission to gain access to the study domain, which was also granted. The principal researcher also ensured compliance with a set of ethical codes, such as confidentiality, by not revealing the real names of the participants but using pseudonyms. Furthermore, the researchers avoided harm by not asking sensitive and harmful questions. Autonomy was also used, as participants were informed of the freedom of choice to participate and not to give responses when they feel uncomfortable. The researcher also duly paid homage to and respected all the participants (Rubin & Babbie 2015).

A sample of 40 participants who knew succinctly about TMC was interviewed. Ten were men who had undergone TMC from the year 2000 and (contemporary epoch) aged 18–25 years: another 10 men who were traditionally circumcised in 1994 or before, aged 30–70 years (the yesteryears); 5 parents of the initiates of the contemporary epoch, aged 30–60 years; 5 parents of men who were circumcised in the year 1994 or before, aged 50–80 years; 2 traditional leaders, 1 traditional surgeon from Cala, 1 traditional surgeons from Mdantsane, 2 traditional nurses from Cala, 2 traditional nurses from Mdantsane and 2 representatives from the house of traditional leaders. The principal researcher wrote letters to the community leaders of both Cala and Mdantsane to gain entry into the community.

As summarised in Box 1, research findings indicated that the yesteryears’ traditionally circumcised men were between the ages of 46 and 68 years. Their ages meant that they were still able to think and recall how they behaved during their initiation times. Parents who gave responses to the research questions were between the ages of 70 and 86 years. Their ages allowed these researchers to trust that they were knowledgeable about the culture and therefore likely to give valid, reliable and culturally informed perceptions regarding the behaviours and morals of the yesteryear initiates compared to the contemporary ones. Demographically, interviewed contemporary TMC initiates in this study were aged between 18 and 35 years. Their ages fit the contemporary epoch as they were circumcised in the 21st century (from 2000 until today), where life has been greatly influenced by the imperatives of development presented by euro centrism, modernisation, civilisation and globalisation. The ages of the parents of the initiates of the contemporary epoch were between 52 and 60 years. These ages place them in a suitable position to compare the behaviours of the contemporary epoch and those of the yesteryears. Furthermore, traditional nurses were between the ages 40 and 66 years. These ages offer them an opportunity to understand and compare the behaviours and morality of both the initiates of the yesteryears and those of the contemporary epoch.

For this study, as summarised in Table 1, the presented research findings on marital status revealed that seven yesteryear initiates were married while other three were unmarried. That means that for the yesteryear initiates, marriage was seen as the next step post-TMC. Interestingly, according to the demographic information of the participants of this study, all parent participants were married. This means they provided both the mother and the father figures for sound nurturance of their sons. Furthermore, four TMC initiates were married, while six were single. For those who were married, this heralds a symbol of family strength and a fulfilment of TMC goalposts. Furthermore, three parents of the initiates of the contemporary epoch were married, while two were unmarried. Although this may be a close indicator of the general characteristic of South African communities, where most parents are unmarried, however, the two sets of parents offered an opportunity for diversity in terms of their views pertaining to the behaviours and morality of the two sets of initiates. Furthermore, the traditional leader, the traditional surgeon and the traditional nurses were married, meaning that they fulfilled an important goalpost of a successful culture of TMC.

On gender, this study manifested masculinisation of culture, as there were 33 males and 4 females. Perhaps this is because the culture of AmaXhosa regarding TMC puts forward the significant role of a man rather than a woman, with women taking a passive role (Nomngcoyiya 2015).

Research findings discovered that the teachings that are received in the initiation school today are misleading and differ from those that were given to initiates in the yesteryears. Inopportunely, the contemporary TMC initiates largely deviate from societal norms and values. The following sentiments attest to the finding:

In consideration of the above sentiments, the contemporary TMC is failing in terms of inculcating constructive and socially acceptable behaviours to the initiates. This means the culture is no longer tenable to uphold its erstwhile purposes and norms.

Regrettably, the findings indicated that the contemporary TMC initiates do not comply with the moral code of conduct and cultural goalposts bequeathed to TMC. Research findings revealed violence, rudeness, disobedience and crime among the contemporary initiates. The following interview extract from yesteryear’s TMC initiate attests to this finding:

Indeed, the initiates of the contemporary epoch manifest weird and ill-behaved manners that contradict the erstwhile behaviours bequeathed to TMC (Baliso et al. 2015). This means the culture is increasingly losing its dignity.

Furthermore, study findings revealed that today’s initiates do not comply with the moral code and cultural goalposts. They further alleged that the contemporary initiates manifested gross irresponsibility that ran counter to the sacredness and sanctity of the erstwhile TMC values and norms. A key informant participant alluded to the following:

Indeed, the contemporary TMC initiates differ from those of the yesteryears in terms of behaviour and morality. They do not uphold the erstwhile cultural values and norms bequeathed to TMC (Mpateni 2017).

The study revealed that although alcohol was used in the yesteryears, although sparingly, today there is excessive use of it. Regrettably, the use of alcohol for cultural practices is today accompanied by western-centric brands of alcohol, such as brandy. This means that binge drinking by the initiates in the taverns and shebeens has been condoned. They no longer help their parents financially. The following verbatim attests to the finding:

Other participants agreed that upon earning any form of income, the contemporary TMC initiates spend money on alcohol. They further alleged that the contemporary TMC initiates are not prudent in spending their money. One parent lamented the following:

Evidently, the emergent culture of the preponderance of alcohol among the initiates of today makes them grossly imprudent to responsibly handle family responsibilities (Bala 2017).

Research findings discovered that the teachings provided in contemporary initiation schools largely deviate from the societal values, norms and concomitant goalposts. This is because the current education in the initiation schools runs counter to the cultural goalposts of TMC such as instilling moral and elegant behaviours among the initiates (Nyembezi et al. 2012). This may be attributed to immature cultural custodians who have high jacked the rite of TMC for pecuniary gains, instead of fulfilling its esteemed goalposts (Nyembezi 2016). This finds support from the writings of Ntombana (2011) and Feni (2014) who assert that the commercialisation of TMC is responsible for an array of moral deficits such as negative teachings, clinical health hazards, hospitalisation and year in, year out deaths of initiates.

In the same vein, Abrahams (2017) concedes that the commercialisation of TMC contributes to the glaring lacunae that have been common in the rite today, including health hazards, moral lapses and negative teachings. This can undeniably be attributed to those running the circumcision practice in botched circumcision schools who lack the prerequisite skills and knowledge to conduct the trade. Furthermore, this can be justified by the fact that botched circumcision schools are run by culturally blind custodians who do not care for moral regeneration but are interested in profit-making in the trade (Douglas & Maluleke 2018; Feni 2014). Inopportunely, these custodians offer negative teachings that provide an environment that motivate disobedience and immoralities, such as binge drinking, disrespect, violence and criminality among the circumcision graduates (Baliso et al. 2015). Notably, also, those managing botched circumcision schools lack the requisite experience and astute training. Previous studies report that they lack the appropriate knowledge of cultural ethos (Ntombana 2009). Ntombana further asserts that with the commodification of the rite, the traditional surgeons and nurses are more interested in the number of young men who go through the circumcision process for pecuniary gains.

Study findings indicated that the contemporary initiates do not comply with the moral codes of conduct and the fulfilment of cultural goalposts of TMC. According to Sussman et al. (2004), the behaviour presented by contemporary initiates is characterised by non-compliance with cultural norms and values. Apparently, they manifest poor respect and honour for humanity, or ‘Ubuntu’, by participating in weird and criminal behaviours such as violence, theft and indulgence in substance abuse (Dumbili 2015). This behaviour has contributed to social ills such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), teenage pregnancy and gender-based violence (GBV) (Statistics South Africa 2018). In the same vein, Mpateni (2017) established that some traditionally circumcised boys contracted sexually transmitted diseases, as a result of what is seen to be a laissez-faire attitude among the newly initiated men in South Africa. Subjective knowledge purports that sex in the yesteryears was only a preserve of marriage, and any indulgence in it other than in marriage was considered a taboo and attracted cultural penalties.

Notably, youths are becoming sexually active at an increasingly younger age today (Khuzwayo & Taylor 2018). This is explained by Emile Durkheim’s anomie theory, which views the manifestation of deviant behaviour in society as a deviation from culturally or socially approved ones (Baliso et al. 2015; Sennett 2006). Apparently, the role of TMC in inculcating elegant and morally acceptable behaviours among the youth is in doubt. The newly initiated men are on the record of exhibiting a disrespect of cultural values and norms as well as engaging in unacceptable behaviours (Adams & Govender 2008; Caine et al. 2019). Perhaps a strong synergy between the government and the traditional leaders could come up with a workable intervention to put the rite back in its adorable place of shaping the morals and behaviours of the initiates.

Study findings showed that contemporary TMC initiates engage in violent behaviours that run counter to the expectations of those who have undergone the teachings of the rite. Inopportunely, traditionally circumcised initiates of today have been reported to be the perpetrators of various forms of violence such as domestic violence and GBV (Baliso et al. 2015). It is regrettable and shaming that a number of social workers report dealing with reports of women and children who are abused by men who have been traditionally circumcised, and that presents a cultural shock as traditionally circumcised men are supposed to be vanguards and beacons of safety to the communities (Mpateni 2017). This is a cultural spinoff, as it indicates a failure of the culture to inculcate good behaviours and sound morals. Today, TMC initiates have been reported engaging in killing, stealing and assaulting, as the world is battling with endless cries by women who suffer gruesome treatment from men. It is evident that TMC is undergoing a state of cultural attrition (Nomngcoyiya & Kang’ethe 2017). This resonates well with Emile Durkheim’s theory of anomie, which defines the societal state of normlessness and chaos that is caused by loose values and norms in societies.

The study revealed that although alcohol was used during the yesteryears, albeit sparingly, inopportunely there is increased consumption of it during the contemporary TMC rituals (Dumbili 2015). Notably, the use of alcohol has been common as part of the ceremony in both epochs, but in yesteryear’s epoch, the custodians were more stringent in controlling its use (Ntombana 2011). Generally, during the initiation process, umqombhothi was sparingly used during the first stage of ‘ulwaluko’ (Mavundla et al., 2009; Mpateni 2017; Vincent 2008). As part of the ceremony, the initiate has to sip alcohol at each stage to fulfil the cultural demands. Also, it is used during the ceremony of ‘umosiso’ (Baliso et al. 2015). ‘Umosiso’ is a Xhosa word that connotes entering of the second stage of the initiation process, when the initiate is allowed to resume his full dietary allocations (Mpateni 2017; Nqeketo 2008).

Furthermore, the study discovered that in the contemporary epoch, umqombhothi is no longer used alone, but it is spiced with other modern and Western brands of alcohol such as brandy, Castle, Black Label and wines (Ritzer & Stepnisky 2018). Arguably, therefore, the inadvertent and laissez-faire drinking culture among the initiates is entrenched during the initiation process. Furthermore, when society evidences a culture of drinking among their sons after exiting from the initiation schools, they may not be accused of any illusion for associating the culture with a laissez-faire license to be abusing it (Smook et al. 2014). This behaviour can be explained by the social learning theory, which contends that all behaviour is learned. Accordingly, Akers (2017) posits that according to social learning theories, contemporary generations learn the behaviour of alcoholism from parents, peers and other people who abuse the substances. In the context of this study, what happens in the initiation schools may encourage episodes of immorality and other maladaptive behaviours. Seemingly and paradoxically also, the community members are no longer attending TMC rituals to provide good teachings to the initiates, but it is an opportunity to enjoy free alcohol.