Do more to cut initiate deaths
IT WAS in July 2013 when the Saturday Dispatch published names and pictures of dozens of initiates who had died since the beginning of circumcision season that year. The use of the pictures triggered a mixed reaction from our readers.
While some understood the idea to put a face and humanise the scores of initiates who continued to die every season, others felt we were trampling on the sacred custom. But more importantly for the newspaper, the campaign was about shining the light on the tragedy of preventable deaths which occur every season and to jolt those in power, and with the necessary power, to act. It was a painful exercise which involved requesting the images from the families and hearing stories of sorrow and anguish brought about by the deaths of their loved ones. The oldest initiate to die was 43 while the youngest just 14. Their lives were cut short because of illegal circumcision schools set up by unscrupulous traditional surgeons who see the custom as an opportunity to make a quick buck. Stories of assaults at initiation schools, negligence, starvation, dehydration and poor hygiene were cited as some of the reasons for the deaths.
At one point a senior traditional leader in the Eastern Cape likened the high death toll, in the former Transkei, to a genocide.
Obviously the deaths of initiates are nothing close to a genocide, but his point was made – that the death toll kept rising while law-enforcement agencies and the government looked the other way. With schools closing for the Winter break next week, once more thousands of boys throughout the province will follow in the footsteps of their forefathers – marking their coming of age. On Monday, the deputy minister of corporative governance and traditional affairs Obed Bapela and his Eastern Cape counterpart Fikile Xasa, officially launched the start of the initiation season. Speaking at the event, Xasa said their wish was to see all the boys coming “back home healthy and strong. However, parents should take the lead and traditional leaders should act as custodians of the custom to ensure nothing goes wrong”.
His department also handed over 42 vehicles to monitoring teams that will visit the various initiation schools to ensure compliance with legal and also hygienic protocols. Over the years the number of deaths have been reduced down considerably – with 17 boys dying in December last year. But one death is one too many. No one should have to die for having their penile foreskin removed. It is as simple as that.
It is obvious that traditional circumcision is an important part of the Xhosa culture. But it must be done right – that instead of mourning the deaths of young initiates, we should be celebrating their homecoming.
The government should go beyond “wishing” there will be “zero deaths” to taking a tough stance on illegal circumcision schools. For as long as criminal elements continue to defy the law and operate illegal schools with impunity, then unfortunately we will continue to weep over unnecessary loss of lives.