Act in interest of your sons

WHEN looking at the Daily Dispatch initiation season death toll counter I see that the season has not failed to live up to its reputation. Young men continue dying in the prime of their lives.

This is what we have now come to associate with this season and judging by the apathetic reaction to these deaths, it seems that some of us have become numbed to this catastrophe. To me this situation is intolerable. In the last 10 years hundreds of initiates have died and many others have needed penile amputations while undergoing this passage into manhood.

I know that many people would be quick to point to the fact that thousands more have gone through this passageway without any major difficulties and therefore would argue that the few deaths and injuries should not deter us from carrying on regardless.

Unfortunately, the majority of people who show this cavalier attitude have never had a young man returned to them as a corpse or one who has permanently lost his manhood.

In fact, what irks me regarding debates around the issue of circumcision deaths is that they are often led by people who do not have a firsthand experience of losing a loved one in the pursuit of the sought after status of being declared a “man”.

It is as if the talking heads treat these deaths as collateral damage in what they deem to be a sacred cultural rite.

As to be expected the deaths that have occurred so far will be followed by the usual posturing and public condemnation from government and traditional leaders but then what?

How about some reactions from ordinary South Africans instead of what seems like callousness and indifference?

It seems that many of us view these deaths as a necessary sacrifice on the altar of cultural expediency?

And the issue of course, is this thing called “culture” which some people think is sacrosanct and untouchable.

Such people would insist that we follow a cultural practice even if it remains unresponsive to the challenges we face as society.

Today millions of rands have been spent in an attempt to curtail circumcision-related deaths but actually, most of the work has focused on peripheral issues.

The main issue for me, is the beliefs we have around manhood and how it is attained.

I do not believe that manhood can only be a product of a surgical procedure because this would mean that a woman who has undergone a cesarean section should also be deemed to have attained it.

I also have a problem with the fact that traditional circumcision seems to be mainly about the “snip” while less attention is given to instilling the values that help raise responsible citizens.

For instance in this week’s Daily Dispatch there was a story of 16 teenagers who had to be re-circumcised because it was discovered that they were not circumcised properly the first time around. I am not sure what standards are used to determine “proper circumcision” but I can imagine the trauma these teenagers faced.

In the article it was reported that traditional leaders and initiation monitoring teams found that 14 of the initiates were “half-circumcised”. This raises the question of why we insist on performing this rite in non-clinical settings.

There might be experienced traditional surgeons out there but the problem is that many of them are at an advanced age and as they die off they are being replaced by inexperienced individuals, amongst whom are increasingly charlatans who have seen an opportunity to profit from this rite.

It is inevitable then, that to safeguard the lives of our youth we must allow elements of modernity to be mixed with this traditional custom.

My advice to parents is that they should stop catering to social whims and do what is best for their sons.

They must remember that those who stigmatise them for making choices that prioritise the safety of their sons are not empowered to replace the boys if they die while undergoing the rite of passage.