CAPE TOWN - The province has recorded a safe initiation season with no deaths.
According to Acting Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais, during the past summer season from November 2021 to January 2022, 1 417 initiates completed the rite of passage in 35 initiation sites throughout the province.
Ten initiates, six in the Cape Winelands, and four in the Garden Route, were admitted to hospital for one day due to dehydration.
Marais said initiation was complex and required the department to work with other stakeholders to address the needs of the practice.
“It is a great pleasure to acknowledge the traditional leaders, initiation forums, the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Social Development (DSD), the police, municipalities, and cultural practitioners for their support. The department has put systems in place to mitigate risks, such as developing a monitoring tool to avert challenges faced with this practice. Among other things, prospective initiates, cultural practitioners and family members involved have to undergo medical screening and provide proof thereof before they are allowed to enter initiation sites,” said Marais.
“The co-operation by parents with respect to compliance with the regulatory framework is of great importance to the practice, especially in terms of the full window period for medical screening. Parents are key stakeholders in this practice and their availability during the season is of the utmost importance. In some cases, for moral support to their boys, and material support, as well as to act timeously when there is a need,” Marais said.
Embo Initiation Forum chairperson Madoda Mabuto said the issue of security had improved compared with previous seasons.
“The only way to avoid initiation deaths is to have a dedicated team who are willing to sacrifice their time, and who also know very well what they are doing. Also, co-operation with parents is very important; if it were not for them we would not have managed to have zero initiation deaths, because they keep on checking the progress we are making and they are impressed with everything.
“Things were different last year because we had to follow Covid-19 pandemic protocols, and all our traditional surgeons, initiates and carers were abiding with the protocols. Everything was up to standard, including security at the initiation sites, unlike in the previous years when security was a huge problem.
“We did not have complaints of drug or alcohol abuse at the initiation sites, and that is because we are very strict when it comes to the consumption of alcohol at the sites and we don't allow anyone who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol to work at the site. We had a few challenges, but we managed to deal with them,” said Mabuto.
Cape Times