SEDIBENG – Operation Shanela is clamping down on all illegal initiation schools in Sedibeng.
On Thursday, November 30, about 16 boys were rescued from illegal initiation camps in Sebokeng and Eatonside.
In a show of force, police and municipal officials raided several initiation camps from the early morning, armed with dozens of marked vehicles.
The initiates were found deep in the bushes of a popular summer initiation hot spot known as Toreng.
Following scores of missing child cases reported at different police stations in the area, the Acting District Commissioner established a task team to deal with initiation.
Speaking to Sedibeng Ster, District police spokesman Captain Teboho Lephoto said “Brigadier Nkwashu who is the Acting-District Commissioner of Sedibeng extended Operation Shanela’s focus to initiation Schools after several complaints from parent’s that their children are missing. A Sedibeng task team was swiftly established and assigned to address this mushrooming issue.”
Lephoto said the task team consisted of other stakeholders including the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and Sedibeng District Municipality Officials as the custodians of initiation schools in the region.
“Our officers together with the other relevant stakeholders raided about four initiation schools in Toreng, outside Sebokeng where they found one of four schools non-compliant. The initiator at the school was arrested and 16 teenage boys were rescued and taken back to their homes,” he said.
“Police urge parents to be vigilant during this time of the year as most child disappearances happen more often around this time of the year,” said Lephoto.
Solomon ‘Spinaar’ Mofokeng, Chairman of the Sedibeng Initiation Forum led the raids and said “We will continue to monitor the situation to prevent the mushrooming of illegal initiation schools.”
