The Inkciyo is an apron-like garment specifically made for girls who have reached their initiation to womanhood. Amongst the Mfengu, Thembu and Xhosa people, when a girl begins menstruating, she withdraws for a whole month from the members of her community, going into seclusion and becoming a Ntonjane, a term most closely analogous to the metamorphosis of a pupa into a butterfly.

During this important time, the girl is instructed in the tasks, accepted behavior, customs and responsibilities with which a woman has to comply in her culture. Usually, a woman from her father's family, for instance an aunt, will guide her during this period of instruction. She beads her own Inkciyo, or cache sexe, which is the only garment she is permitted to wear, except for a blanket. After the passing of one month in seclusion, a celebration and feast welcome her back into the company of the community and her new status as a woman.

After the rites have concluded, the newly recognized woman will continue to wear the garment as underwear, where it would be hidden from view, replacing her previous swallow-tail shaped undergarments.