Police in the OR Tambo region have arrested four women in connection with the unlawful circumcision of five boys aged between 12 and 14.
The women were arrested on Monday at Mthombe village in Libode.
The arrest followed a visit of the OR Tambo district traditional initiation monitoring forum to the village.
The team, led by traditional leaders, includes police, nurses, NPOs and the municipality.
Traditional leader Zwelizolile Lutaka, who is part of the team, said the women were arrested at Mthombe village on Monday, and later the same day, an illegal traditional nurse and bogus traditional surgeon were arrested in the same village.
“One of the four women allegedly made her house available to be used as an illegal initiation school, working with her son, a 23-year-old bogus traditional nurse.
“Three other women were parents of initiates and allegedly worked in cahoots with the mother and her son.
“The women did not seek any permission from the local traditional leader.
“The traditional nurse and the surgeon did not have any legal documents to perform the circumcisions and keep the initiates at the home of the other woman.”
Lutuka said the initiates were found in a makeshift initiation hut.
“After the team pounced on her, the woman, who acted as usosutho — an initiation school principal — took the team to the homes of the other women who allegedly brought their sons for the illegal circumcision.
“They had allegedly paid the stipulated fee to conduct the circumcision procedure and also for initiation.”
Lutuka said the husband of the woman running the school had distanced himself from whatever activities his wife and son were undertaking.
“He said he was not involved in any activities of traditional circumcision and initiation.
“The husband said he was never circumcised as that was not part of his custom.”
All the initiates are believed to be primary school pupils, and were circumcised on March 21 during the autumn school holidays.
Lutuka said according to the law, initiation schools operated only during the summer and winter seasons.
Only men could own and run initiation schools, or be traditional surgeons or nurses.
OR Tambo district, especially the Mpondoland area, is not only notorious for botched circumcisions, deaths, injuries and penile amputations, it has for many decades been leading in unlawful circumcisions.
In one case, a 10-year-old boy had been circumcised.
On Tuesday, the Daily Dispatch joined the initiation monitoring team.
Members broke into two groups, with one led by Lutuka and the other by Eastern Cape initiation co-ordinating committee chair Nkosi Gwazinamba Matanzima.
The groups went into different villages in Libode and Ngqeleni.
A 48-year-old traditional surgeon was arrested at Mahoyana village, also in Libode, for illegal circumcision of three boys aged 14 and 15.
The man claimed he was asked by the boys’ mothers to do the circumcision.
Matanzima and Lutuka’s teams addressed communities on the wrongs and dangers of illegal circumcision and initiation.
Lutuka said parents were not playing their part in ensuring safer initiation.
“More parents must be arrested, both men and women, so as to ensure safe initiation.”
The arrests come shortly after the Commission on Gender & Equality engaged with stakeholders in Mthatha for research on illegal initiations.
Since December 2024, co-operative governance & traditional affairs minister Velenkosini Hlabisa, his Eastern Cape counterpart MEC Zolile Williams and traditional leaders have criss-crossed the province speaking to kings, senior traditional leaders, headmen and headwomen, and other stakeholders to ensure the 2025 winter traditional initiation season is safe, and to curb illegal initiations, especially in the OR Tambo district.
During a briefing, OR Tambo district operation commander Col Xhathisile Majaja said police would intensify their efforts to ensure those contravening the Male Customary Initiation Act were arrested.
“We cannot continue to have illegal circumcisions and deaths in our initiation schools.“Illegal initiation must come to an end.”
Daily Dispatch
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