Initiation school deaths due to government’s inability to enforce law

Various interventions to curb initiation school deaths have seemingly failed, with cultural activists blaming government for failing to hold those responsible for the deaths to account.

Government, the police, as well as House of Traditional Leaders (HTL) have for years run campaigns against illegal circumcision schools and illegal traditional surgeons, rules and regulations.

But illegal initiation school owners and surgeons continue to run amok, with five lives of innocent young men lost in this summer initiation in the Eastern Cape, a province notorious for initiate deaths.

By August, the winter initiation season had claimed the lives of 11 boys in the province, with another 10 deaths in various areas of Mpumalanga in May.

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The initiation schools are supposed to be registered with and endorsed by the provincial HTL and other relevant bodies.

However, illegal circumcision schools, often run by unregulated and untrained traditional surgeons, are in constant conflict with the law and do not adhere to rules and regulations aimed at the well-being of initiates.

Scant monitoring

“Government is not tough enough, other than expressing concern, when there are deaths. Until there is real action on the ground, innocent lives of young people will continue to be lost or forever impaired,” cultural activist Thando Mahlangu said.

He said the importance of this rite of passage to African people was not matched with adequate protection against exploitation, that has even led to kidnappings of underage boys for circumcision.

Mahlangu said in most cases, it is initiates who do not follow requirements and guidelines set by authorities who died or experienced complications.

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“We have a situation where, as much as there are strict rules and guidelines, there is scant monitoring, especially in the Eastern Cape. What we need is a serious crackdown from the top and those responsible made an example of,” he said.

Mahlangu said greed was the main driver behind illegal initiation schools as the interest is not in the well-being of initiates but money, adding that traditional leaders needed to play an active oversight role to close this gap.

In September, the Commission for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) launched an urgent investigation into injuries of nearly 300 boys at an initiation school in Phalaborwa, Limpopo.

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Two groups of more than 2000 initiates, the youngest 7 years old, were circumcised at R1 600 each, netting the so-called traditional surgeons at least R3 200 000.

Culture eroded

The Commission for Gender Equality’s report on illegal initiation schools noted that the importance of this practice has been eroded tremendously, with deaths resulting from institutional weaknesses.

These are the inability to enforce laws or hold perpetrators of botched circumcisions to account, the lack of oversight of the practice, the inability of government to intervene due to fears of interfering with the modern practice of culture, traditional male circumcision houses that are not doing enough to safeguard initiates, and their human rights.

The report notes how isiXhosa traditional surgeons (ingcibi) and traditional nurses (ikhankatha) used to be thanked with a bottle of brandy in the past, this gesture has since been monetised with payments that range from R400 to R800 per initiate.

Following rules paid off

Khuluma Ndabezitha, head of Ndzundza Somalakazi royal household in Mpumalanga, said they managed to avoid deaths this winter season by being unwavering on the application of rules and regulations set by government.

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He said all 213 initiates under his central traditional authority returned from the two-month seclusion safely.

“We were able to achieve this by working with government and parents. We insisted on a permission letter from the school or work, parents, or guardian consent, as well as a check-up letter from the clinic,” Ndabezitha said.

He said chronic conditions were discussed with parents to ensure that the initiate is able to continue taking their medication and ensure a suitable environment for their health conditions.

Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs spokesperson Lungi Mtshali is yet to respond to questions on interventions.

According to the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights, it is estimated that 858 boys have died and many seriously injured while attending initiation schools in the last 15 years, constituting a deprivation of the right to life, health, bodily security, and dignity guaranteed under the Constitution.

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