More than 40 young men have died in South Africa in the past two months as a result of circumcision procedures related to traditional initiation activities. reported the Associated Press.
Traditional initiation is practiced by various ethnic groups in South Africa and is a rite of passage into manhood. Young men are isolated in schools, where cultural values and responsibilities are taught and circumcision is performed as they reach adulthood.
The South African government intervened through legislation in the initiation schools after initiates died.
He said the deaths were caused by the negligence of both the initiation schools and parents for not adhering to safety standards and medical advice. He said young men are sometimes told to avoid drinking water to heal faster.
“There is negligence when it comes to meeting health standards in some initiation schools,” Hlabisa said.
“If you take your child to an initiation school, you never do a follow-up examination, you don’t check, you don’t go there to see if the child is drinking water, you put your child at risk,” he added.
Schools must be registered with authorities, but this has not prevented the rising number of illegal initiation schools, where many of the deaths are reported.
Parents are expected to pay for their children’s admission to the school, which fuels the financial motivation to start an unregistered initiation school.
Hlabisa said 41 people have been arrested in connection with illegal initiation schools, including some parents who provided the wrong age for their children’s admission.
Boys must be 16 years or older and can be admitted to the school with parental consent.
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