Minister moots medical circumcision to replace traditional rite

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has conceded government is considering “complementing or replacing” traditional circumcision rites with a medical equivalent.  

Though this has been vehemently opposed by traditional leaders in the Eastern Cape, Mkhize said national government hoped that exploring this avenue would provide a solution to the initiation crisis in the Eastern Cape.

Twenty-one initiates have already died in the current summer season.

On Tuesday, Mkhize and premier Oscar Mabuyane visited initiation schools in Ngcobo and Komani.

They were accompanied by National Traditional Initiation chair Nkosi Sipho Mahlangu, who is also chair of the National House of Traditional Leaders as well as Contralesa.

Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders chair Nkosi Mwelo Nonkonyane was also in tow.

“We need to remove the stigma associated with medical intervention generally,'' Mkhize said.

He said national government had been engaging with the provincial government and traditional leaders on the issue of male medical circumcision, but because rural communities were not convinced by the practice, “there was still a lot of work to be done”.

“This is a discussion that has been going on for a long time.

“You need to take the community into your confidence so they can look at their tradition differently. We need to intervene immediately and male medical circumcision looks to be the answer,” said Mkhize.

“We have introduced the practice in some provinces and the results were overwhelming, with many youths circumcised without any complications — let alone deaths.”

But Nonkonyane lashed out at the idea.

“We can never support male medical circumcision and undermine our rites,” he said.

“We can never allow such a move.

“The health department tried to do this before and more than R200m was set aside to promote male medical circumcision at the expense of the traditional initiation custom.

“This is the custom of our ancestors and we cannot opt for anything else.

“But we are not saying that medical doctors can’t assist where needed.” 

Mkhize, Mabuyane and Nonkonyane did agree initiation rites should only be undertaken in winter as many young men died from dehydration in the summer months.

All the leaders agreed climate change was a factor that needed to be considered, and as such winter initiations were preferable, except in mountainous areas such as Mount Fletcher and Matatiele.

Mabuyane said he had been left traumatised by the condition of some initiates he had visited at the All Saints Hospital in Ngcobo.

“This cannot be right to have on average 60 initiates dying in our initiation schools every year.

“This should stop,” Mabuyane said.