The Etwatwa SAPS is appealing to parents to be aware of their children’s whereabouts after 21 boys were rescued from an illegal initiation school in Pretoria.
Etwatwa SAPS spokesperson Capt Ramothakhi Maqabe said it is alleged there are scouts recruiting boys to go for initiation without their parents’ consent.
“It has been reported that there are two taxis that are recruiting boys from Benoni, Daveyton and Etwatwa,” said Maqabe.
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“Once the children have been taken, parents are issued with a letter demanding that they pay a certain amount of money and are threatened that their children will not leave the initiation school before they are circumcised.”
Maqabe said some of the boys who were rescued managed to flee from the taxi when it stopped halfway to Pretoria.
“The boys managed to run to Loate Police Station and they were returned to their families.
“Some families of these boys have opened kidnapping cases against the schools. In most cases, the boys were voluntarily taken to these schools.
“We urge parents to educate their children about initiation schools so that they are not coerced through peer pressure,” said Maqabe.
The spokesperson said police are working with traditional leaders, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) and the Benoni Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) in these cases.
No arrests have been made.
A mother of one of the rescued initiates, Zinhle Dube, said her 13-year-old son, Sipho, disappeared on May 11.
“I last saw him (Sipho) in the morning as he was preparing to go attend his Saturday classes. Later in the afternoon I received his jersey from a boy who stays in the same street as us and went to school with him,” said Dube.
“He didn’t return home that Saturday and we thought maybe he was visiting his cousin, but on May 12 we called all our family members and everyone said they hadn’t seen him.”
Dube said they then went to open a missing persons case at the Etwatwa Police Station.
“On May 14, a man who claimed that he was from the initiation school visited us and told us he was sent to come collect R350, a blanket, a bag of oranges and to also fill in forms to agree that our child must be circumcised,” she said.
“His father, Sihle Mncube, refused to fill in the forms or to give him any money. He then contacted the initiation school and told them that this is not our cultural practice.
“They then threatened that Sipho will die if we don’t meet their demands, and when we tried to call them back their phone was off,” said Dube.
“After a few days, we received news that there were some boys rescued from an illegal initiation school. We then went back to the Etwatwa Police Station, but they failed to assist us.
“We then went to the Pretoria Police Station to open a case.”
The Etwatwa resident said after going back and forth with the people from the initiation school, on May 30 Sipho was reunited with his family.
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“I encourage parents to educate their children about their cultures and teach them that there is no easy way of making money as it is alleged that these people promise our children that after they complete the initiation process, they will receive R500 when they recruit others.”
Maqabe said in order to run a legal initiation school, the following documents are required:
• a letter from the traditional council of the area where the initiation schools will take place, supporting the application;
• a certificate of fitness of the traditional surgeon issued by a medical doctor;
• an environmental report compiled by an environmental practitioner for the area where the initiation school will take place;
• a copy of proclamation and/or title deed confirming authority and/or jurisdiction over the area where the initiation school is to be conducted; and
• an undertaking signed by a senior traditional leader regarding acceptance of accountability for the initiation school.
• Parents should have an affidavit stating that they’ve allowed their children to go to the initiation school.
Maqabe said anyone with information should report it to the police and a missing persons case will be opened. If investigations reveal that the child was kidnapped, the missing persons case will change to an abduction case.
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