Daily Dispatch

Ramaphosa demands initiate safety priority

- LULAMILE FENI TRADITIONA­L AFFAIRS CORRESPOND­ENT lulamilef@dispatch.co.za

As 20,000 Eastern Cape youths prepare for the mountains to undergo winter initiation, provincial authoritie­s, acting with strong support from President Cyril Ramaphosa, have promised aggressive policing of rogue circumcisi­on schools and bogus surgeons.

Ramaphosa has demanded that safety during the rite must be a priority.

The deaths and injuries that have plagued the performing of the ritual for years motivated a desperate and furious statement on Wednesday from the elders. They lashed out at those responsibl­e for the tragedies arising from what should be a tough but ultimately joyous ritual of manhood.

In 2018, 44 initiates died, 23 in summer and 21 in winter.

In 2017, 14 died; in 2016, 11; in 2015, 28; in 2014, 37; and in 2013, 37, all in winter.

In a blunt comment at a meeting of 50 government leaders and NGOs involved in the issue, Eastern Cape House of Traditiona­l Leaders CEO Pastor Mzi Nkantsu railed: “We are in crisis situation, a disaster, that needs all members of the society, especially fathers, taking the lead.”

“There is a dire lack of patriotism, vigilance and general participat­ion of parents, as well as of strong leadership among some traditiona­l leaders.

“Their silence is deafening and this directly and indirectly leads to the deaths of their sons as they let bogus traditiona­l initiation practition­ers dice with their children’s lives.”

The team urged fathers, uncles and traditiona­l leaders to be in the forefront of ensuring the safety of young men.

The Eastern Cape government officially launched the opening of the initiation season on Wednesday but there are fears that some schools were already operating.

Nkantsu and Congress of Traditiona­l Leaders of South Africa provincial secretary Mkhanyisel­i Dudumayo, who also chairs the OR Tambo Initiation Forum, said hundreds of initiates had died and others had penile amputation­s over the years.

Nkantsu told the meeting: “If in the past years you implemente­d safe strategies with almost the same results, it means there is a challenge.

“Whose child must now die before all parents and traditiona­l leaders stand up to make this their own responsibi­lity, ensuring the safety of their sons? This rite is a societal matter that requires all stakeholde­rs to pull together for the safety of the initiates.”

Their silence is deafening and this directly and indirectly leads to the deaths of their sons

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