Hunt is on for bogus chicken 'Ingcibi'
He snips underage boys for the price of a chicken, saying they heal faster
The search is on for notorious Eastern Cape traditional surgeon Mshiyelwa Ndoda, alleged to have illegally circumcised 61 underage boys and a 49-year-old mentally challenged man in Libode in the past few weeks.
On Sunday, Cogta MEC Fikile Xasa was in a police helicopter searching for the bogus ingcibi.
He was flown over the areas where Ndoda, 69, was suspected to be hiding out in cave in a dense forest in the mountains around Libode.
Known as Mtshayina, Mr Chicken and Ma-chicken, he has been found guilty of illegal circumcisions twice before. He was first given a three-year suspended sentence and then jailed for five years.
In 2009, while serving the five years in jail, Mtshayina proudly boasted of circumcising seven inmates and using prison sheets to dress their wounds at the Wellington Prison in Mthatha. The razor blade was reportedly smuggled in.
Cogta provincial spokesman Mamnkeli Ngam said Ndoda’s modus operandi was to ask for a chicken in exchange for circumcising underage boys.
He believes – erroneously – in circumcising boys before they are sexually active, claiming they heal faster and cannot contract HIV/Aids.
He is believed to be on the run after provincial initiation monitors found 63 illegally circumcised initiates in Mgwenyane village in Libode.
Mgwenyane is not far from Ndoda’s village of KuZele, said Ngam, adding that boys wanting his services come from as far as Gauteng and the Western Cape.
Of the 63 initiates, 61 were under the legal age of 18, some as young as 11.
Ndoda is also being sought by police for illegally circumcising a mentally challenged man, who died after the wound went septic. “Police are compiling other cases of illegal circumcision and murder against him,” said Ngam.
The spokesman said they believed some of the 16 initiates who have died so far this season were circumcised by Ndoda.
Police and traditional leaders have been searching for Mtshayina for two weeks. It is feared he is still with the group of initiates he had illegally circumcised when he fled.
Bhisho Cogta portfolio chairman Mninawa Nyusile and his health counterpart Mxolisi Dimiza, who just visited Libode, were informed of Ndoda’s notoriety and evasive nature.
“But he could not be arrested. Police flying over the areas spotted someone like him, but the helicopter could not find a place to land. There were at the time no police on the ground. He managed to evade arrest.The search continues and police promised to deploy members on the ground and specialised units like K9,’’ said Ngam.
Authorities are urging communities to help find Ndoda before he harms more youths.
His circumcision business started in 1981. In 2005, after six underage initiates died in Libode, he was convicted but given a three-year suspended sentence. Two years later, he was arrested for the same thing.
Xasa said all rescued initiates refused to tell anyone, including parents, who had circumcised them. “No doubt Mtshayina was involved. He was being protected. We want to see how we can better hunt for Mtshayina because nobody is able to access him.”
Xasa has asked safety and liaison MEC Weziwe Tikana and police provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga to treat the case as a top priority. He has also approached Western Mpondoland King Ndamase Ndamase for assistance.
“The king said he has been trying to summon Mtshayina but all has been in vain and that is because of the terrain.”..
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