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Picture Courtesy: (@Am_Blujay shared via X) Winter Initiation School Ends with At Least 14 Deaths in the Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape winter initiation season has claimed the lives of 14 initiates, while this past weekend marked the end of the initiation season in the province.
According to reports, six of the deaths were the result of unauthorised circumcision, while seven were the result of dehydration and wound infection, and the most recent death of an initiate in Qumbu resulted from injuries sustained when his hut caught fire.
Zolile Williams, the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), has encouraged parents and communities to take an active role in protecting the lives of their children and to make sure that the traditional circumcision procedure is completed in a safe and secure environment.
Williams stated that parents nevertheless allow unqualified surgeons to circumcise their children, and when the parents also illegally participate in the initiation procedure and protect the illegal schools, they make it hard for the government to take action against these schools.
There have been reports of deceased initiates almost every season, and stakeholders have expressed that having to report on the deaths of initiates every season is heartbreaking.
Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana, the Eastern Cape Chairperson of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa, conveyed his condolences to the families of the 14 initiates who died throughout this year’s winter initiation season.
Chief Nonkonyana further said that he feels that initiation seasons without deaths are achievable and urged the government to give the institution of traditional leadership in South Africa its rightful authority and resources.
According to the Chief, traditional leaders could decisively deal with all the “ragamuffins” who keep enriching themselves at the expense of the lives of those who could be tomorrow’s leaders.
Meanwhile, since the start of the 2024 winter initiation season, a total of 17 unlawful initiation schools in the North West province have been closed.
This comes after more than 100 initiates were saved and two initiates died.
According to the North West Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement, and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), 13 initiates were saved from unlawful initiation schools in Lichtenburg and Coligny, while the others were saved from schools in Moretele, Tigane, Mahikeng, and Madibogo.
The Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee (PICC) chairperson, Kgosi Godfrey Ramosetlho Gasebone, said that the main reason for the rise of illegal initiation schools is greed, as people are looking to get money from the parents of the initiates through extortion.
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