No initiation school this year for boys in Mosesetjane
INITIATION school surgeon, Scotch Malesela of Mosesetjane village in Mokopane says he will not open the initiation school this year as a large number of boys in the village are still underage, but would open it next year.
LIMPOPO – INITIATION school surgeon, Scotch Malesela of Mosesetjane village in Mokopane says he will not open the initiation school this year as a large number of boys in the village are still underage, but would open it next year.
Malesela said he wanted to comply with the law, which states that boys should be 11 years and older in order to be accepted at an initiation school.
He said he wanted to encourage other surgeons to do likewise and advised them to demand medical reports from parents when they sent their sons to be circumcised.
“One can’t open an initiation school every year. I believe the deaths of boys at initiation schools is something that can be stopped by sticking to the law that regulates bush schools,” said Malesela.
“Turning initiation schools into businesses is dangerous. If a boy suffers from asthma, why do parents allow him to go to the bush school? An asthmatic patient can’t endure the cold in the mountain. Sending asthmatic patient to a bush school is risky.
“If surgeons admit an asthmatic patient to the initiation school, they must allow him to bring his medication.
Chief Malesela Dikgale of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders, said they would keep a close eye on the Sekhukhune district, where a lot of applications were turned down.
“Illegal schools will be closed without any negotiation,” he said.
By the time of going to press, Dikgale was in a meeting discussing challenges that erupted in Giyani, where the community protested sgainst an alleged illegal initiation school.
