‘0% death rate expected during the 2017 initiation school period’
This year, 325 initiation schools in the province have been approved to partake in the initiation schools programme, according to Dikgale
LIMPOPO – This year’s programme commenced on 17 June and will end on 18 July.
June is widely embraced as the season for initiation schools, when young boys are inducted to be part of a programme that teaches them in the ways of life and also endorses them as potential leaders in their respective communities.
According to House of Traditional Leaders Chairperson, Kgoshi Malesela Dikgale, they received 376 applications and 51 of those applications were disapproved due to their failure to meet the environmental and health requirements expected for the running of initiation schools. He announced this at a press conference recently.
He said although the approved number has decreased from last year, it is an opportunity for them to have a good handle on things.
“The bigger the number of approved initiation schools, the more challenges we’ll have,” said Dikgale.
He said they are ready for the initiation schools and they are expecting a 0% death rate this year.
“In an effort to prevent unnecessary loss of lives, we urge parents to send their children to initiation schools that are approved and to authenticate the legitimacy of initiation schools they intend to send their children to with their respective traditional authorities,” he said, adding that no child will be circumcised without their parents’ permission.
“We are going to boycott all the bogus initiation schools which have claimed lives of several children in the previous years,” he said.
Dikgale said although they failed to achieve a 0% death rate in the previous years, the province still has the best initiation schools.
“We strongly believe that all the initiation schools will run smoothly to ensure that our province remains the best province of all,” he said.
“As the House of Traditional Leaders in the province, we have conducted a workshop for all senior traditional leaders and traditional surgeons who have been given permits to host these initiation schools. The core purpose of this workshop was to brief and prepare the initiation schools stakeholders on precautionary measures to be followed in order to have a smooth process during the initiation period,” said Dikgale.
Contralesa Provincial Chairperson, Kgoshi Letsiri Phaahla, said through a good communication channel with the provincial government, they as leadership can do better for the province.
“We are gratified that every approved initiation school is under control,” said Phaahla.
He said bogus initiation schools remain a huge challenge and that affects their cultural practices.
“It is a shame that many of our chiefs run the initiation schools for economic gain. As Africans we need to respect our culture,” he said.
Head of the Health Department, Dr Peter Kgaphola, said the department will ensure that every child is in good physical and mental condition for circumcision.
“We will enlist the collaboration of initiation school graduates, 50 self-employed doctors, department nurses and environment health practitioners and our chiefs so that things run smoothly,” said Kgaphola.
“Our health centres are ready for any unexpected accidents from the initiation schools and medication is in position,” he said.
