Eastern Cape Mourns Initiates' Deaths, Calls for Legal Circumcision Practices

• The Eastern Cape’s CoGTA Department has urged parents to ensure that trained surgeons circumcise their sons
• The department was reacting to the deaths of 14 initiates in that province during the 2024 winter initiation season
• MEC Zolile Williams explained that parents need to stop protecting illegal practitioners as it puts their children’s lives at risk

Zingisa Chirwa is an experienced Briefly News journalist based in Johannesburg, South Africa, who has covered culture and current affairs on the radio for over 15 years.

The Eastern Cape’s Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department has pleaded with parents to ensure that trained surgeons circumcise their children.

14 initiates die in the EC

The provincial department was reacting to the 14 lives lost during the 2024 winter initiation season 2024. According to SABC News, one initiate died from injuries he sustained when his hut caught fire. Six initiates reportedly lost their lives due to illegal circumcisions, while the other deaths were a result of dehydration and septicaemia.

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MEC Zolile Williams said that to prevent unnecessary deaths, parents must report non-compliant schools and not participate in any activities driven by any illegal initiation institution.

Contralesa’s Nkosi Mwelo Nonkanyana believes that a death-free initiation season is possible if government hands over the responsibility of overseeing the sacred process to traditional leadership.

Mzansi offers solutions to curb initiation deaths

Some netizens believe that merging the sacred teachings of the initiation school with medical advancements in the circumcision process would save the lives of scores of young men.

@DamnDemi commented:

“I see more and more men calling medical aid to enquire about circumcision for their boys.”

@Boowa7 advised:

“Here is the solution to reduce the deaths: parents in EC must take their kids to medical circumcision firt before they go to initiation school; in Limpopo, there are no deaths because 85% of kids go there already circumcised.”

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@Maloyza3 added:

“Cutting of foreskin in the bushes is overrated! We have medical facilities to save lives going forward.”

@steadfastmj78 pointed out:

“It is traditional leaders who force those boys to go to mountains; they must, therefore, be held accountable for those deaths!”

@SandileKaMsibi said:

“Wow, they respect their culture. They’d rather risk it all”

North West crackdown: Cases filed against bogus initiation school leaders

In related Briefly News, North West officials closed 17 initiation schools and rescued over 100 initiates from the institutions.

A multi-disciplinary operation that inspected the facilities found irregularities with the premises and practitioners’ credentials.

The Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committees confirmed that cases were opened against some of the principals.

Source: Briefly News