Parents are not only colluding with bogus traditional initiation practitioners but are among those responsible for their sons’ deaths and injuries..
That is according to co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) deputy minister Prince Zolile Burns-Ncamashe who lashed out at parents’ negligence, saying many were not only defying laws regulating the custom of ulwaluko, but were subjecting their sons to torture, injuries and even death, instead of ensuring their safety.
He said if traditional initiation monitoring teams had not arrived in time to save a Mdantsane initiate from the torture allegedly perpetuated by his own father, the number of deaths in the Buffalo City Metro could have been higher than they were.
The Eastern Cape death toll had increased from four to six by the end of Wednesday, Burns-Ncamashe said.
Four boys had died in OR Tambo district, and now two in Buffalo City Metro.
Burns-Ncamashe applauded the work being done by monitoring teams and said that thanks to his oversight visit in BCM, the life of an initiate had been saved.
“When we were there, we could see this young initiate was highly dehydrated.
“We were so surprised that the father [allegedly] had instructed the traditional nurse to deny him drinking water for days.
“That was a reckless decision and a heinous instruction. Had we not intervened that initiate could have died.
“The mother would be asking many questions with no answers while the murderer would be sitting next to her.”
Burns-Ncamashe said this was just one of many incidents committed by reckless parents rather than traditional nurses and surgeons.
He has been criss-crossing the province to visit initiation schools and engage with stakeholders in an effort to seek long-lasting solutions to the crisis facing traditional initiation.
He visited BCM, the Chris Hani district and, on Wednesday, the OR Tambo district as well as Western Mpondoland King Ndamase Ndamase at Nyandeni Great Place.
Ndamase had appealed for the national government to intervene in the initiation crisis in his kingdom.
Nyandeni and OR Tambo were considered hotspot areas for hundreds of cases of unlawful circumcisions involving boys as young as 12.
Burns-Ncamashe said Nyandeni was one of the areas they were looking at, with all spheres of government working together with traditional leadership.
He said his oversight visit had established many pockets of good practice, including areas such as the Chris Hani and Amathole districts.
But he had been shocked by the unlawful behaviour of some traditional leaders.
“We learnt there were some traditional leaders selling initiation documents to initiates’ families.
“These documents are free, yet shamelessly and disgracefully some traditional leaders are making a profit out of them.
“This is criminality. We will follow those cases up. No-one is above the law.
“When we deal with transgressions, we deal with them, irrespective of status.”
Burns-Ncamashe and provincial initiation co-ordinating committee chair Nkosi Gwazinamba Matanzima said parents needed to extend their role in ensuring their sons’ safety.
The two leaders also voiced their support for premier Oscar Mabuyane, who was criticised for being out of office during the Mthatha floods because he was on leave supporting his two sons at initiation school.
“This is what we have been preaching, that fathers must always be there for their sons and monitor every step of the journey,” Burns-Ncamashe said.
“If they respect the custom and cherish and treasure the lives of their sons, they will always be there, as Diya [Mabuyane] has done.”
King Ndamase’s uncle, Nkosi Tholelengwe Ndamase, and Nyandeni mayor Viwe Ndamase, called for those breaking laws regulating traditional initiation to be arrested.
Mayor Ndamase said they were disappointed that initiates had died in Nyandeni.
“We had two seasons when we did well and applauded. Now we have some deaths while we planned for zero.”
Burns-Ncamashe has now concluded his oversight programme, having visited the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, Buffalo City Metro, Amathole, Chris Hani and OR Tambo districts.
The visits formed part of the government’s intensified efforts to ensure safer customary initiation practices under the theme “Mabaye Bephila, Babuye Bephila”, emphasising that initiates should come back alive.
“The oversight programme aimed to promote adherence to the Customary Initiation Act, 2021,” he said.
The spirit of partnership among stakeholders remained central to reducing and eliminating fatalities and injuries associated with the rite of passage.
Fourteen initiates died in the Eastern Cape in the 2024 winter initiation season.
Daily Dispatch
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