Better Oversight Needed to Stave Off Initiation Deaths

5 January 2023

One of ActionSA’s values is the appreciation and promotion of cultural diversity. Our cultural and religious customs are part and parcel of who we are because we attribute specific important meaning to them. One of these customs is the rite of passage for young men (Ukwalukho) the highlight of which is process related to circumcision of young males. Although practiced throughout the country, the Eastern Cape always grabs headlines due to the alarming number of deaths of initiates emanating from the initiation schools in the province.

The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) estimates that around 700 initiates have died in the Eastern Cape in the last decade, with 34 deaths reported since the beginning of the current summer season (which began on the 4th of November 2022).

Various reasons have been cited as causes for these deaths: including dehydration, underlying health comorbidities and diabetes and other chronic health issues. It is common knowledge that the bulk of the deaths occur because of illegal initiation schools run by opportunistic, inexperienced, unqualified and unsupervised individuals who are responsible for the actual circumcision, post procedural care and overall parental/familial oversight.

Given the continued unnecessary and tragic loss of the lives of young males in the prime of their lives at these schools, ActionSA believes that the responsibility of overseeing this tradition/custom and preventing any loss of life should be better shared by the Provincial Department of Health, the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders, all Law Enforcement agencies and all the stakeholders, including the families of aspirant initiates. Only a collaborative effort between all stakeholders will finally bring an end to these unnecessary deaths.

Sacredness is often cited as a reason to keep the actual management of initiation schools under the responsibility of the House of Traditional Leaders, traditional leaders and customary community leaders. However, the tragic statistics imply that there is something amiss and that more needs to be done to ensure the safety of each and every initiate. The situation has reached a point where sensibility should prevail over the need to protect the ritual’s sacredness.

Cultural Circumcisions should be done under the supervision of recognised traditional authorities (or communal leaders), but physically administered by suitably qualified and registered health professionals, as they can detect any potentially life-threatening medical issues that may make the circumcision unsafe. Circumcisions should be carried out in appropriately sanitised facilities that are safe for such procedures.

The visit to the so called “death hotspot areas”, by the chairperson of the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders, Chief Mpumalanga Gwadiso, is a little too late. Monitoring of initiation schools should not be brought on by loss of lives, it should happen from the very beginning of every initiation season and the traditional authorities, the relevant provincial departments and the families of initiates should ensure that there are no illegal or unrecognised “initiation schools”. This also means that the families of young men who want to be initiated should take responsibility for ensuring that such passage to manhood is done under their strict control, so that where this is done the loss of life is the exception not the rule.

The social status or standing that comes with having undergone the rite of passage should not be allowed to outweigh the risks associated with uncontrolled initiation/circumcision.

ActionSA urges the government of the Eastern Cape to do everything that is required to stop the unnecessary loss of lives during initiation season. The government must reconsider how initiation schools are registered and supervised.

The health department must champion the saving of lives by making sure that no medically compromised young male is given permission to undergo initiation until any and all underlying health issues are addressed. Medical procedures, which is what circumcision is, should be the responsibility of qualified professionals, not of politicians.

We believe that it is not the process of initiation that is the cause of these deaths but rather the abrogation of the custom and the subsequent circumcision of some young men without the necessary customary supervision and after care. This requires better protection and control of the sacred custom by all concerned if we are to stop the seasonal loss of life in this province.

While we have committed ourselves to fixing South Africa, we have to protect the future of this nation: the youth. They will inherit the South Africa ActionSA is fixing for them and they can only do so if we protect them from losing their young lives unnecessarily.

Statement issued by Athol Trollip , ActionSA Eastern Cape Chairperson, 5 January 2023