Initiate deaths due to commercialisation of the cultural practice – CRL

With the death toll from botched circumcisions in the Eastern Cape rising to at least 34 initiates, the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) has stepped in, proposing a 10-point plan calling for the closure of illegal initiation schools.

Initiation of boys into manhood has annually turned deadly in some Transkei regions of the Eastern Cape, with CRL chair Prof David Masona, yesterday saying the deaths were due to human negligence and the commercialisation of the cultural practice.

“We have come to the crossroad. No nation commits genocide to its sons,” Masona told a media briefing in Johannesburg.

ALSO READ: Eastern Cape initiation death toll increases to 34

The CRL, which has held a series of meetings with government officials and traditional leaders on the Eastern Cape crisis, has proposed a 10-point intervention, which has included:

• The immediate closing down of all illegal initiation schools;
  
• Swift arrest of those behind the fatalities, with all deaths being accounted for and consequence management applied against gross negligence in initiation schools;
  
• The deployment of members of the State Security Agency to track and identify illegal schools in farflung areas of the Eastern Cape – to give early warning signs about impending deaths;
  
• Fast-tracking of charges and prosecution of individuals on initiation-related crimes through specialised courts;
  
• Kings and queens receiving timeous reports on what is happening in the initiation schools in their jurisdictions; and
  
• The participation of women groupings like Imbumba Ya Makhosikazi in the Eastern Cape, to assist in the initiation process.
  

Masona said incidents of botched circumcisions were dominant in the OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo districts of the Eastern Cape.

“We have, however, noted that the majority of cases happened in illegal schools,” he said.

“We have also noted that, except for two or three cases, which are alleged to have happened naturally and through abuse of initiates, the majority of cases are still awaiting the post-mortems.

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“In less than a decade, the province has lost 696 initiates, excluding many young men who have undergone penal amputation and losing their manhood due to botched circumcision.

“If effective daily coordination and monitoring in the implementation of the risk-adjusted strategy are done, the death machine of initiates under the pretext or cover of culture in the Eastern Cape, will come to an end.

“Culture is a way of life and does not kill,” said Masona.

Meanwhile, the portfolio committee on cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) said it was shocked and saddened by the deaths.

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“The committee notes that the spike in initiation deaths coincides with the relaxation of regulations that imposed a temporary ban on male customary initiation.

“It is of concern to the committee that this continues unmitigated despite its recent series of engagements with the relevant male customary initiation role players in a bid to hold those responsible to account.

“The committee will intensify oversight over the implementation of the Customary Initiation Act, which became effective in September this year,” said portfolio committee chair on Cogta Fikile Xasa.

– brians@citizen.co.za