Bill to curb initiate deaths to reach Parliament soon

A NEW bill aimed at regulating customary male initiation is close to reaching Parliament for processing, Deputy Traditional Affairs Minister Obed Bapela said yesterday.

Briefing journalists on the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs budget, Bapela said the bill would go a long way to reducing the number of deaths at initiation camps around the country.

“The main fundamental intent of the law is to empower the police and the National Prosecuting Authority to be able to arrest and prosecute those who are running illegal schools,” said Bapela.

Scores of boys die every year due to dehydration, gangrene and other complications, which government attributes to “flyby-night” operators who use the cultural practices to make a quick buck.

The Customary Initiation Bill will make provision for municipalities to help regulate the operations of initiation schools.

This month, at least four initiates in Mpumalanga died.

One of the boys was just 14 years old despite those younger than 16 not being allowed to attend initiation schools in terms of the Mpumalanga Ingoma Act.

“They don’t know the cultural phenomena and when you engage them on why they do this, they say ‘ no my friends have done it’, and it’s not linked to any cultural belief.” – ANA