WATCH | Illegal initiation schools in Eastern Cape 'outnumber legal ones'

There are more illegal initiation schools in the Eastern Cape than there are legal initiation schools.

Children below the prescribed age of 16 are admitted to these schools and traditional surgeons who perform the circumcisions are not always properly trained. 

This is according to the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) which conducted an oversight visit last week in the Alfred Nzo, OR Tambo and Buffalo City areas.

Cogta is the custodian of the Customary Initiation Act. 

Officials who conducted oversight visits said nine initiates had died in the province since the start of the season on June 17.

The portfolio committee on Cogta felt it necessary to conduct oversight visits to initiation schools this winter initiation season to see if the legislation is being implemented and complied with.

Other than conducting visits with police, the committee met the national initiation oversight committee (NIOC), the provincial initiation co-ordinating committee (PICC), district initiation forums and the local initiation co-ordinating committees to inform their research.

According to committee spokesperson Faith Ndenze, the committee is waiting for the detailed report from the province on the number of illegal initiation schools vs legal initiation schools, the number of initiation-related deaths and causes, and the number of cases opened, arrests and prosecutions.

Initiation-related deaths from botched circumcisions have decreased from the 40 reported in December.

“During the oversight visits to the various initiation schools, the committee noted a general lack of compliance with the act, which has led to illegal initiation schools outnumbering legal schools.”

On Wednesday last week Cogta chair Fikile Xasa spoke at Nyandeni, in the OR Tambo district, at the site of one of the illegal schools the committee and police had shut. The teams were travelling to initiation schools in Qumbu and Tsolo where six initiates had died. 

In a video, Xasa said the team of seven went on the visit because of the many deaths in previous seasons.

“Boys do die ... There are [many] illegal schools — more than legal schools.”

He noted that boys below the legal age of 16 had been initiated.

Speaking of the illegal school in Nyandeni, Xasa said when the committee arrived the traditional surgeon had run away.

“We can't find him. Only [some of] the boys [were there]. He ran away and some boys did too. What we have seen with these boys is that there have been challenges [or issues] with the circumcision [sites] ... We are accompanied by doctors and they are dealing with them and assessing [the sites].” 

He said they expected that the provincial initiation co-ordination committee of the Eastern Cape should carry out what is prescribed in the act, “which is to close illegal schools but to follow the proper process to do so”.

“If there are any boys seriously under threat then they must be assisted by medical practitioners ... If they decide to close the schools — [the boys] must be taken to legal schools and be accommodated [at these schools].”

Police have opened cases against the illegal practitioners of the schools they closed.

He said police say illegal traditional surgeons as well as the parents who send their boys to these schools are at fault. 

According to a media release, Cogta said there was non-compliance with the act for several reasons, including a lack of awareness, a lack of harmonisation of the act and the existing provincial initiation legislation of 2016, and the admission of underage boys to initiation schools.

“There also seems to be a general lack of parental involvement in the custom, which encourages further non-compliance. The NIOC has committed to establishing a dedicated team to monitor parents and their actions, particularly during the first two weeks of the initiation season.”

According to the report, another factor that contributes to the non-compliance is that the PICC is constituted of MECs who are unavailable for meetings because of competing priorities.

“The NIOC has resolved to revise the composition of the PICC to ensure it consists of relevant personnel who will be available to execute its mandate.

“The committee has also heard the traditional leaders who report that they are unable to fulfil their oversight responsibility due to a lack of resources. This includes a lack of transportation to visit these areas, professional nurses to attend to sick initiates and adequate funding for traditional leaders to execute their duties.”

It said a proposal was made that seasonal special courts should be established to deal exclusively with initiation cases to ensure that initiation-related cases are prioritised.

“There was also a call for the Traditional Courts Bill to be finalised so that it can help with the establishment of seasonal special initiation courts. The committee will refer this matter to the portfolio committee on justice and constitutional development, which is the custodian of the Traditional Courts Bill.”

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