A woman broke down in tears as she told how her nephew was killed at an initiation school because he could not sing.
Speaking at hearings conducted by the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Rights of Cultural‚ Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) on the deaths of initiates in Gauteng‚ the woman said her 16-year-old nephew had gone to the initiation school in the Sedibeng area in 2013 and never came back.
The boy’s family does not practice the culture of initiation and his family had planned to take him to a circumcision clinic.
“He lived with me in Orange Farm. He first disappeared in June. I followed up and asked around for his whereabouts. I was told he went to the initiation school.
“A group of men brought him back a couple of days later. He had been beaten up and could not sit up or walk.”
The woman‚ who asked not to be identified‚ said her nephew disappeared again in December.
“I discovered that he had gone back to the initiation school. I thought this time I would wait and not go look for him. One of his friends told me that they would be coming back on a certain day. He gave me details of where I would find him and other boys.
“I got there and I could not find him among the other boys. One of them told me that he was killed at the initiation school. He would not give me more details. When I went to the police and he was asked what had happened‚ he said my nephew was killed because he could not sing the songs they were taught at the school.”
The woman said the family was not told where the boy’s body was buried.
“We were told his body was buried at a military camp. All we want is to get a bone so we can bury him‚” said the woman breaking down in tears.
She said the police have not been able to help her family by investigating the death of her nephew.
“The police told us to stop pursuing the case because a lot more people will die.”
More than 500 initiates have died in the country in the past nine years and according to the CRL Rights Commission the number will continue to rise if the problem remains unattended.
The commission will be conducting investigations into the deaths of the initiates across the country. — Tiso Black Star Group Digital
My nephew was killed because he could not sing‚ tearful woman tells initiation deaths hearing
Speaking at hearings conducted by the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Rights of Cultural‚ Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) on the deaths of initiates in Gauteng‚ the woman said her 16-year-old nephew had gone to the initiation school in the Sedibeng area in 2013 and never came back.
The boy’s family does not practice the culture of initiation and his family had planned to take him to a circumcision clinic.
“He lived with me in Orange Farm. He first disappeared in June. I followed up and asked around for his whereabouts. I was told he went to the initiation school.
“A group of men brought him back a couple of days later. He had been beaten up and could not sit up or walk.”
The woman‚ who asked not to be identified‚ said her nephew disappeared again in December.
“I discovered that he had gone back to the initiation school. I thought this time I would wait and not go look for him. One of his friends told me that they would be coming back on a certain day. He gave me details of where I would find him and other boys.
“I got there and I could not find him among the other boys. One of them told me that he was killed at the initiation school. He would not give me more details. When I went to the police and he was asked what had happened‚ he said my nephew was killed because he could not sing the songs they were taught at the school.”
The woman said the family was not told where the boy’s body was buried.
“We were told his body was buried at a military camp. All we want is to get a bone so we can bury him‚” said the woman breaking down in tears.
She said the police have not been able to help her family by investigating the death of her nephew.
“The police told us to stop pursuing the case because a lot more people will die.”
More than 500 initiates have died in the country in the past nine years and according to the CRL Rights Commission the number will continue to rise if the problem remains unattended.
The commission will be conducting investigations into the deaths of the initiates across the country. — Tiso Black Star Group Digital
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