Image: Sebabatso Mosamo
Contralesa secretary general Zolani Mkiva has confirmed that the institution's NEC, led by its president Kgosi Mathupa Mokoena, has decided to suspend the winter initiation season.
Speaking to DispatchLIVE in Nqadu, Willowvale, during health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize's visit on Tuesday, Mkiva described 2020 as an unusual year not only for South Africans but the rest of the world owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This is the first of its kind. Yes we know there have been pandemics in the past but this one is coming at a period when [global] population numbers are at almost nine billion,” he said.
“And we want to say that the initiation season being suspended is also linked to considerations which are about the school curriculum and schooling calender among other things.”
But Mkiva said they were hoping that the virus will have been defeated by the end of the year, in which case they would consider opening the season for December.
He said the current situation, including the lockdown, posed a serious question on the issue of food security in the country as people were being forced to stay at home.