Leading up to the mid-November official opening of the 2024 summer traditional initiation season, the Eastern Cape provincial government and traditional leaders have reminded parents that all boys set to undergo the rite must have a mandatory pre-circumcision medical examination.
This is to ensure they are physically and psychologically fit.
As of this Monday, all boys eligible can visit medical services for screening.
Co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Zolile Williams and the Eastern Cape House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders chair Nkosi Mpumalanga Gwadiso said no boy would be allowed to undergo traditional initiation without having an approved medical certificate confirming his medical fitness.
They said though boys could from Monday go to the pre-circumcision medical examination, no traditional surgeon or any practitioner was allowed to perform any circumcision procedure and initiation until the season was pronounced opened.
The 2024 traditional initiation summer season officially opens on November 15.
“We are satisfied with the state of readiness,” Williams said.
“The training of traditional surgeons [iingcibi] and traditional nurses [amakhankatha] is ongoing across the province to mitigate associated risks.
“The screening process will for the first time also focus on symptoms of drug addiction and dehydration to plug in the necessary support before the boys undergo the ritual.”
Williams said the support by NGOs for radio awareness campaigns and availing doctors on call in some districts and metro municipalities was commendable to mitigate deaths and injuries of children during this period.
Gwadiso warned parents against bogus medical traditional surgeons.
“The custom of ulwaluko does not kill or injure anyone. We are all the product of that custom.
“Only the bogus surgeons who know nothing about this rite and those who are negligent and lack skills risk the lives of an initiate.
“Families should always use the services of credible traditional surgeons and nurses who have good track records,” Gwadiso said.
In the 2023 winter season, 11,193 boys took part in the cultural rite of passage.
There were 8,531 boys medically screened, 9,906 legal schools visited, and 1,626 initiates were treated on site for various medical conditions by health officials.
A total of 1,281 traditional surgeons and nurses received training on infection prevention and control as well as wound care.
“Unfortunately, notwithstanding great efforts by our teams, needlessly 14 young lives were lost and there were three amputations,” Williams said.
In the 2023 summer season, 35 initiates died in the Eastern Cape, bringing the total initiate death toll in the province to 49 for the year.
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