Written by Siphesihle Zangwa, researcher, University of Mpumalanga. Cleaned up and edited by Samukelo Moloko, publisher, MzansiFarm. Updated 7 November 2026.
Historical records of African first-fruits celebrations are more detailed for the Zulu and Bhaca than for Xhosa communities generally. Although an isiXhosa word for a first-harvest festival exists, there is no documented evidence of one harvest ceremony shared by all Xhosa chiefdoms.
In his 1938 paper, Social Aspects of First Fruits Ceremonies among the South-Eastern Bantu, anthropologist Max Gluckman examined the Zulu first-fruits ceremony. He described restrictions on eating new crops before the ritual and argued that the ceremony and its associated taboos helped protect the community against socially disruptive forces. He placed the celebration towards the end of the agricultural season. Cambridge University Press
Ingcubhe: The Bhaca First-Harvest Festival
The Dictionary of South African English records ingcubhe, also written as incubhe, incubi, ingcube and ncuba, as an isiXhosa word for a festival celebrating the first harvest of a new season among the Bhaca.
W.C. Scully described the ceremony in 1907 in By Veldt & Kopje. His account says the Bhaca chief, after receiving traditional medicines, emerged from his hut and threw an assegai towards the rising sun. In 1913, Scully recorded that the Bhaca continued observing the first-fruits ritual long after similar customs had disappeared among other communities.
W.D. Hammond-Tooke documented the ceremony in 1954, describing annual celebrations intended to bless new crops and strengthen the community. In his 1962 book, Bhaca Society, he wrote that possession of the ingcubhe medicines contributed to the chief's power and prestige.
S.M.A. Lowe also used the spelling Ncuba in his 1967 book Hungry Veld, describing a village harvest feast. These historical references are preserved in the Dictionary of South African English.
What the Historical Records Say About Other Xhosa Communities
P.A. McAllister's 1985 study, Beasts to Beer Pots: Migrant Labour and Ritual Change in Willowvale District, Transkei, examines a Gcaleka ceremony called umhlinzeko or umsindleko. It marked the return of a migrant worker to his rural home. His later research, published in 1997 as Ritual and Social Practice in the Transkei, documents beer gatherings and animal sacrifices associated with ancestors among Xhosa-speaking communities in Shixini.
These studies do not establish a general Xhosa first-fruits festival. The documented Bhaca ingcubhe should therefore be identified as a specific community tradition rather than presented as a ceremony practised by all Xhosa people.
Research Sources
- Dictionary of South African English – Ingcubhe.
- Gluckman, M. (1938) – Social Aspects of First Fruits Ceremonies among the South-Eastern Bantu.
- Scully, W.C. (1907), By Veldt & Kopje, p. 298.
- Scully, W.C. (1913), Further Reminiscences, p. 269.
- Hammond-Tooke, W.D. (1954), Bantu Tribes of South Africa, Vol. III, p. 35.
- Hammond-Tooke, W.D. (1962), Bhaca Society: A People of the Transkeian Uplands, p. 175.
- Lowe, S.M.A. (1967), Hungry Veld, p. 143.
- McAllister, P.A. (1985) – Beasts to Beer Pots: Migrant Labour and Ritual Change in Willowvale District, Transkei.
- McAllister, P.A. (1997) – Ritual and Social Practice in the Transkei.
