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Hlabisa calls for urgent action, moots initiation suspension as deaths linked to traditional practise rise

Hlabisa calls for urgent action, moots initiation suspension as deaths linked to traditional practise rise
Lisakanya Venna and Estelle Ellis
By Lisakanya Venna and Estelle Ellis
27 Dec 2024
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With 27 deaths recorded in the current initiation season in the Eastern Cape, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa has suggested the only solution might be to suspend initiation in parts of the province where unregistered schools continue to practise illegally and ignore protocol.

A 39-year-old man, who the police say is neither a traditional nurse nor a surgeon, was arrested for allegedly raping an initiate in the Centane area in the Eastern Cape on Friday, 27 December 2024.

Warrant Officer Majola Nkholi said the circumstances surrounding the alleged crime are not yet clear, but the man will appear in court on Monday.  

The arrest came as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa was locked in emergency meetings with traditional leaders in the Eastern Cape to discuss the rising death toll among initiates in the province.

The discussion, it was confirmed, included the possibility of suspending traditional initiations in the province.

So far 23 people have been arrested for crimes relating to the deaths of initiates in the Eastern Cape.

Read more: Call for institutional oversight at initiation schools as Eastern Cape death toll passes 25

Since 2019, 253 initiates have died in the Eastern Cape traditional initiation season with dehydration said to be a leading cause of death. This year 27 initiates have died during the summer initiation season with the causes of death recorded as dehydration, physical molestation and torture. This brings the death toll for 2024 to 61. 

Speaking to Newsroom Africa, Hlabisa shared his disappointment at the loss of 27 lives linked to poor initiation practices.

“We are sitting at the figure of 27 initiates who have died during the summer initiation process. This is unfortunate. We want to condemn all the bad practices that resulted in such deaths. But I must start by saying, firstly, there are initiation schools that are doing very well, that are the real custodian of this culture and tradition.”

“The bad thing that is being done […] in the illegal schools because they don't follow a protocol. We want to condemn them, and we want to ask the parents why they allow their children to go to a school that is not properly registered because there is no proper protocol that is being followed there.”

‘These are human beings’


Hlabisa condemned the practice of depriving initiates of water. 

“We also want to speak strongly against the notion that the initiates must not bring water when they undergo this culture. If you don’t bring water, definitely, as hot as it is today, you will be dehydrated, you will collapse and eventually lose your life […] The principals of the initiation schools really must be human enough; 27 is not just a figure, these are human beings.”

The minister expressed concern about the rising death toll and commended the police for taking swift action.
After this engagement, we must come up with a radical approach on how we bring this crisis to zero death so that the culture can be supported and promoted.

“I’ve looked at the past six years … from 2019 to date, it’s 253 young boys whom we’ve lost. These are bread winners in their families, some of them are the only child the family has, these are future leaders […] After this engagement, we must come up with a radical approach on how we bring this crisis to zero death so that the culture can be supported and promoted as other initiation schools are able to enrol and compete with the full set of our young boys still alive.”

“We want to thank the police, because there were 23 arrests which we were informed of yesterday […] We want to see proper prosecution of all people who performed the unlawful circumcision or who broke the protocol, so that we send a message that if you do it wrong, you suffer the consequences.”

Read more: Eastern Cape summer initiation season ends with 34 deaths

Initiation suspension 


Hlabisa announced his plan of suspending traditional initiation in areas with high and consistent death tolls. 

“We do not want to dictate; we want to listen as to what is the view of the key stakeholders if we want to promote this culture. One, we must be very clear, the initiation schools that have no trouble in terms of death, there should be no reason for moving towards suspension. But there are consistent areas every year you talk of big figures. We need to make a sincere consideration because it demonstrates that either they are not doing it right deliberately or they are not ready to do it right. Why not suspend it for a certain period, get all structures in place?”

“Indeed, the consideration of suspending in other areas, once consultation has been done, moving towards the winter season, it is going to be on the table. We will announce once we have reached an informed consultation and agreed upon [course of action], because we need to go along all together, so that we do not have other people opposing a constructive view in terms of trying to protect the culture, so that it does not seem as a bad thing to do [that results in the] death of our boys. [The practice] has to be seen as something that must be transmitted from one generation to the other, but the culture that results [in the] death of human beings really should be visited.”

Hlabisa revealed that Cogta will engage with traditional leaders and royal houses within the first three weeks of the new year to discuss how best to protect the cultural tradition and prevent it from being exploited by unscrupulous individuals. DM

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