Sunday Times, South Africa - January 24, 1999
Prega Govender
The Rev Agrippa Stuurman, 27, the head of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Ixopo in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, sounded this warning during a meeting with the chief recently.
But Stuurman, a firebrand and a father of two, denied that he would excommunicate families who did not send their children for virginity testing.
"Most African families no longer want to send children for virgin tests. But this testing is part of African culture. It is the African way of keeping girls pure from sexual sin," he said.
Stuurman said testing was also necessary to reduce the risk of HIV and unwanted pregnancies.
"Sex before marriage is condemned with all vehemence in the Bible and in Zulu tradition. Both agree that a girl should remain a virgin up to the point of marriage," he said.
Stuurman said the church could no longer keep quiet while young girls were being destroyed.
"I fully support the idea of testing and I have asked the chief to give me a list of names of people who are reluctant to send their children for virgin tests.
"These people on the lists need not fear me as I will not be carrying out a vendetta against them," he said.
"All I want to do is find out from them why they are opposed to virginity tests. I want to try and clear any misunderstandings they may have and try to persuade them to see the light of day.
"But I certainly will not alienate them or chase them out of church if they don't agree with my viewpoints."
He said his views on the testing did not reflect the views of his church.
Newcastle teacher Phili Hlatshwayo, 25, is proud of her virginity certificate after undergoing a test last year. She fully supported Stuurman's call for all African girls to go for tests.
"Once you pass a virginity test, you can hold your head up high among people in your community and they, in turn, hold you in high esteem," she said.
Hlatshwayo said she was preserving her virginity for marriage.
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