Second cut brings joy

AT THE beginning of the initiation season this year, a Limpopo boy insisted he wanted to go to the mountain again despite having been circumcised already by a medical doctor.

Sifiso Bilanku, 13, begged his family until they relented, and he was one of the young men who were welcomed back to the community by Chief Yingwani M’tititi on Saturday. Sifiso’s aunt Tongasi Makhubele, who is also the secretary of a local traditional organisation, said although her nephew was circumcised by a doctor in 2010, he complained that he felt there was something amiss.

“He told me he hears me on radio talking about traditional religion but that going to hospital to be circumcised is not the real deal,” Makhubele said.

“I agree with him because now he is a real man,” she said.

The village of Plange, where the chief is based, was in a celebratory mood as 116 boys came back from the school safely.

At the royal kraal, head prefect Eugene Ndove boasted that the children the parents had entrusted to him with their safety all returned home healthy.

After the ceremony, Makhubele hired a car and a van to carry people, drinks and a live goat to slaughter at Malamulele.

On arrival home, Sifiso had to wait at the gate where a R50 note was put into a calabash to inform the ancestors of his return from the mountain.

Further family rituals were conducted after entering his home. After that he was set free to join the homecoming festivities.

Sifiso, a Grade 8 pupil at M’tititi High School, said his peers looked down on boys who have never gone to the bush school.

“Even if you are circumcised by a medical doctor, you are xuvuru (uninitiated man) and as such you become the target of jokes.”