A meeting hosted last week at the Vereeniging City Hall was attended by over 150 initiation school leaders. The adults of the schools say the police and municipal suspension of circumcision in the Vaal ‘will not happen.’
They state they will not take the mandate from either police or government seriously: “This is about practicing our culture.”
The initiation heads were spitting fire. Joseph Pitso, member of an initiation school, said the suspension would never happen – not now, not ever.
His sentiment was echoed by Simon Motloung and Vusumzi Mlaba: “We have spent thousands of rands preparing and consulting with the ancestors. Everything is under way.” Sedibeng District Municipality MMC for Public Safety, Zaza Raikane, said they had received instructions from the Gauteng MEC for Community Safety,
Nkosi-Malobane that asked initiation leaders to ‘wait’ with initiation schools: “We are not going to allow politicians to dictate terms on how we should practice our culture.” The instructions came after two people were hacked to death with pangas in Bophelong recently.
It was alleged that the deceased were part of the Diamonds and Mopheme groups.
“The youngsters have been killing each other for years. Police have been failing to make arrests. “It is about time other people’s culture be respected. We never instruct the ANC or any political party on how to govern.” The media were chased out of the meeting by Raikane saying the discussion was not in the public’s interest.
Police have threatened to burn down initiation schools in the region.
When going to print some boys and girls had already been transported out of the region.
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