Read more
Sources said Mathabatha is getting 'special treatment' at the initiation school.
Stan Mathabatha. Picture: Gallo Images
Among the thousands of initiates now going through the important traditional rites of passage to manhood at an initiation school in Limpopo is a 68-year-old man, Deputy Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development and former Limpopo premier, Stan Mathabatha.
Mathabatha enrolled at initiation school
Mathabatha’s enrolment was confirmed by the Limpopo provincial initiation coordinating committee (PICC) on Friday.
The committee’s principal objective is to oversee the day-to-day operations of initiation schools in Limpopo. It is headed by Hosi Mudabula Chauke.
“We can confirm that Mr Mathabatha is one of our students in one of the initiation schools in Limpopo, but I am afraid we cannot dwell on the nitty-gritties of his enrolment,” said Chauke.
ALSO READ: Limpopo initiate dies in hospital after having epileptic fit
He, however, praised Mathabatha for going through the important rite of passage to manhood at his age.
The Citizen can reveal that the deputy minister was admitted to the Mathabatha Initiation School in Tjiane village, outside his homestead in Tooseng in the Mphahlele area of the Capricorn district municipality.
“[Mathabatha’s] admission should prove to those Doubting Thomases that initiation schools must not only be associated with young boys and girls who have not yet reached puberty. It is for all people of 16 years and above, as recommended by the Act that governs [initiation] schools in this country,” Chauke said.
Schools being monitored
He also used Mathabatha’s participation to stress that only initiates over the age of 16 and with a doctor’s medical report will be enrolled in the koma schools.
Chauke said government departments and police will be monitoring the initiation schools.
“This season we received a total of 569 applications for winter and summer initiation schools. Of these, we approved 529 applications – comprising 322 male and 208 female schools. Regrettably, 40 applications were declined due to non-compliance with Section 26 of the Customary Initiation Act (No 2 of 2021).”
He said reasons for rejection include pending litigation or court judgments, land jurisdiction disputes, leadership conflicts, incomplete documentation and traditional surgeons or caregivers with criminal records.
ALSO READ: Limpopo’s Rain Queen suspends initiation schools in 2025
Mathabatha getting ‘special treatment’
Sources in the village, who constantly visit the initiation school where Mathabatha is admitted, told The Citizen that Mathabatha is being given “special treatment” at the school.
“He sleeps separately from other initiates in a special tent within the camp. He is served with a different meal, mostly goat meat and other protein- and vitamin-rich [foods]. His security is also guaranteed. He has guards at the entrance and different corners surrounding the school,” said one of the sources.
Another source, who also comes from Ga-Mphahlele, explained why Mathabatha is being treated differently from the other initiates.
“Remember, the former premier is no longer a young boy. He is aged. He can’t, by tradition, perform the same errands, such as hunting and collecting firewood, the same way as young boys of 15 and 16 years of age.
“During his enrollment, he produced a medical certificate that described his medical records. Things like the type of food he must eat, his daily routine workout and the type of clothes he must wear may have been prescribed, hence the different treatment. But I can assure you, the man has been going through all the initiation rituals and attending all the modules like any other initiate,” said the source who asked not to be named.
The ANC in Limpopo declined to comment, saying Mathabatha’s admission at the school was personal and must be treated as such.
“It is like the doctor/patient confidentiality kind of thing,” acting ANC provincial executive committee spokesperson Charl van Niekerk said on Thursday.
