Calls for the custom to be revisitedA SENIOR traditional leader in the Eastern Cape has likened the high initiate death toll among the AmaMpondo nation to genocide.
Bizana community leader Ndumiso Hlongwa said each year the nation buried far too many boys who had dreams of becoming men.
He said the high initiate death rate could be called “genocide as our people are slashed to death in these mountains”.
He blamed their deaths on traditional nurses and surgeons who lacked knowledge about the custom and rite, saying if nurses and surgeons were responsible for the deaths of initiates, it was manslaughter.
“Let’s stop this (initiation custom) altogether or have a break for a couple of years where we look at what went wrong in this nation,” said Hlongwa. “We need to consult with other nations in the AmaXhosa and Sesotho people to learn how this should be done.”
Since 2006, 462 initiates have died in the Eastern Cape, the majority from the AmaMpondo nation.
The most recent initiation season in June was no exception as 21 of the 39 initiates who died were from the Pondo area, which encompasses Bizana, Lusikisiki, Port St Johns, Libode, Flagstaff and Ntabankulu.
The crisis has led to many from the area calling for the custom to be revisited.
Hlongwa’s call follows the late Eastern AmaMpondo king Mpondombini Sigcau who called for initiation to be suspended.
Sigcau wanted his nation to be given time to consult with their ancestors as parents called on him to intervene and find answers to what was happening.
But the late king’s call was not welcomed by many (in Mpondoland) who believed the problem lay with individual families not the custom itself.
Western Mpondoland king Ndamase Ndamase vehemently disagreed with Sigcau on having the rite suspended.
When a Daily Dispatch team visited the area of Bizana recently, parents complained of the exorbitant fees demanded by traditional surgeons for their sons to be circumcised.
Masinama Madikizela, who lost her son Siyabonga, was charged R1000 for him to be circumcised.
“They are always looking for the next boy who will come and pay R1000 to be circumcised,” she said.
Mpondoland-born Eastern Cape health department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the custom had been hijacked by criminals.
“Authorities should not classify this as circumcision , these are the criminal acts of a few individuals. In circumcision schools, initiates are not beaten to death but guided to manhood.”
Another prominent AmaMpondo leader, Nkosi Gcinusapho Bokleni, is campaigning for tighter control over the rite. “What is happening in our nation is shocking,” he said. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za/bonganif@dispatch.co.za
High toll likened to genocide
A SENIOR traditional leader in the Eastern Cape has likened the high initiate death toll among the AmaMpondo nation to genocide.
Bizana community leader Ndumiso Hlongwa said each year the nation buried far too many boys who had dreams of becoming men.
He said the high initiate death rate could be called “genocide as our people are slashed to death in these mountains”.
He blamed their deaths on traditional nurses and surgeons who lacked knowledge about the custom and rite, saying if nurses and surgeons were responsible for the deaths of initiates, it was manslaughter.
“Let’s stop this (initiation custom) altogether or have a break for a couple of years where we look at what went wrong in this nation,” said Hlongwa. “We need to consult with other nations in the AmaXhosa and Sesotho people to learn how this should be done.”
Since 2006, 462 initiates have died in the Eastern Cape, the majority from the AmaMpondo nation.
The most recent initiation season in June was no exception as 21 of the 39 initiates who died were from the Pondo area, which encompasses Bizana, Lusikisiki, Port St Johns, Libode, Flagstaff and Ntabankulu.
The crisis has led to many from the area calling for the custom to be revisited.
Hlongwa’s call follows the late Eastern AmaMpondo king Mpondombini Sigcau who called for initiation to be suspended.
Sigcau wanted his nation to be given time to consult with their ancestors as parents called on him to intervene and find answers to what was happening.
But the late king’s call was not welcomed by many (in Mpondoland) who believed the problem lay with individual families not the custom itself.
Western Mpondoland king Ndamase Ndamase vehemently disagreed with Sigcau on having the rite suspended.
When a Daily Dispatch team visited the area of Bizana recently, parents complained of the exorbitant fees demanded by traditional surgeons for their sons to be circumcised.
Masinama Madikizela, who lost her son Siyabonga, was charged R1000 for him to be circumcised.
“They are always looking for the next boy who will come and pay R1000 to be circumcised,” she said.
Mpondoland-born Eastern Cape health department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the custom had been hijacked by criminals.
“Authorities should not classify this as circumcision , these are the criminal acts of a few individuals. In circumcision schools, initiates are not beaten to death but guided to manhood.”
Another prominent AmaMpondo leader, Nkosi Gcinusapho Bokleni, is campaigning for tighter control over the rite. “What is happening in our nation is shocking,” he said. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za/bonganif@dispatch.co.za
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