Keeping a rite safe

IN A few weeks from now, thousands of boys from the Eastern Cape will undergo the ritual of ukwaluka (circumcision).

Ukwaluka is a traditional rite of passage into manhood and takes place twice a year during the winter and summer seasons.

The rite is a sacred one but is often shrouded in controversy with the death of initiates.

At the end of the summer initiation season in the Eastern Cape last year, the province recorded 20 deaths. This death toll was down compared with the previous year but 20 deaths is still unacceptable.

The province is now preparing for the winter initiation season, which normally follows the June school exams.

In Mpumalanga, however, deaths have already been recorded. In just nine days, 23 boys have died.

Police have opened 22 murder cases while there is an inquest into the 23rd death. It has been reported that all deaths occurred at government-registered initiation sites.

The causes of death are still being investigated, but hopefully there will be justice for the families of the boys who died.

Last year, the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders and department of local government and traditional affairs called for a legal framework to deal with initiations.

This included formal training of initiates before and after initiation; workshops for traditional surgeons, traditional nurses and parents; formulation and implementation of policy and bylaws and successful prosecution of suspects by the National Prosecuting Authority and the Department of Justice .

The deaths in Mpumalanga should be a sobering reminder to all stakeholders in the Eastern Cape of the immense responsibility on them to ensure a safe experience for the thousands who will be going to the bush in the next few weeks.

Traditional circumcision has long been a contentious issue. Veteran traditional leader Nkosi Gcinusapho Bokleni has openly campaigned for the introduction of male medical circumcision (MMC) to avoid fatalities.

With MMC, boys are given an anaesthetic before the procedure while those undergoing traditional circumcision brave the pain. The debate is one that will no doubt continue to rage for some time.

Despite the controversy of initiation deaths, efforts by traditional leadership and government should be applauded. Last year, monitoring and intervention teams rescued 64 initiates from illegal schools.

The success was attributed to close working relations between the teams, traditional leaders, government departments, the SAPS and members of traditional forums.

These teams will have to apply the same vigilance this year to avoid more senseless deaths.