Gauteng’s initiation schools all suspended until end of 2018
The Commission for Cultural‚ Religious and Linguistic Rights has announced the suspension of ALL initiation schools in Gauteng.
A report for The Commission for Cultural, Religious Linguistic Rights (CRL) has ordered the suspension of all initiation-related activities in Gauteng. The suspension will run until the end of 2018.
The report ““Some Problems and Challenges that Lead to Deaths and Injuries at Initiation Schools in South Africa,” was presented in Braamfontein on Tuesday.
Prince Mahlangu, the chairperson of the Gauteng initiation-monitoring task team, told TimesLIVE that it is not meant to stop initiations indefinitely.
“We are supporting the suspension on the simple basis of protecting our children. We also want to be able to compel the government to support the initiative.
“Many of the issues raised are not initiation issues‚ [they are] criminal. As [we embark on the suspension]‚ we expect that there will be areas which will still be operating‚ such as Sedibeng and the Orange Farm. We have put extreme measures [in place] to curb those issues‚” said Mahlangu
The report found that the incompetence of the people performing the ritual was the main cause of penile amputations and deaths. The commission also expressed their concern over violence, drug use and gangsterism that take place in some of the schools.
“The people who run the schools are often young and have just graduated. They do not have the adequate knowledge of circumcision. Because of lack of the necessary experience and absence of an authoritarian structure overseeing the process‚ there young people appoint inexperienced traditional healers‚ who cannot manage incidents such as haemorrhages.”
The report highlighted how provinces like the Western Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo had low fatalities due to proper consultation. Now, the initiations process has in some cases been hijacked for financial gain.
“Culture‚ including male initiation and circumcision‚ has become a commodity‚ and there is a major and growing economic activity around the practice of the initiation rite. Another disturbing trend is the emergence of touts‚ who go around recruiting and abducting potential initiates for a fee‚” CLR chairperson Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva submitted.
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