A total of 125 initiates have safely returned home after being guided through the rite of passage to manhood, thanks to a Mamelodi initiation school which is finally back after two years of Covid-19.
The Phetla initiation school started at the beginning of June and ended on July 28 for both girls and boys, said Chief Mapale Phetla.
This year, a total of 15 girls also graduated with the help of Queen Annah Malope Phetla.
Initiates gathered outside the Phetla family house to welcome their loved ones after going through the process with songs and dance for the last ceremony.
Phetla said the secret to conducting successful circumcision schools was working with all stakeholders, including the health department, education department and, of course, the families.
Phetla said all the parents co-operated this year and they all signed the consent form for both boys and girls.
“All our initiates went for health screening before going through the initiation process to check for hidden sickness to chronic diseases,” he said.
Righthand man Medupi Phetla said due to land-grabbing all over Mamelodi, the initiation school had to abandon its sacred site that they have been using for more than five decades and move to another place.
He said that made things a little bit hard for the initiation school in terms of delivering water up the mountain and bringing food too.
“The initiation school was not aware of people erecting shacks on the mountain closer to their sacred site,” said Medupi.
He said he was disappointed with the invasion of privacy by people grabbing land using force and disrespecting other people’s culture and traditions.
Medupi thanked all the traditional surgeons and local communities for the success of his schools.
The date for next year’s initiation school period will be announced in due course.
This year the initiation school admitted people from the age of 13 and upwards.
Mamelodi local traditional chiefs including the members of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa also attended the event.
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