Picture for illustration. Xhosa Initiates pass by close to the funeral of Nelson Mandela, Qunu, South Africa, 14 December 2014. Picture: Brent Stirton/Getty Images.
Initiation deaths continue to plague the country despite ongoing appeals for vigilance and full compliance with the Customary Initiation Act. The summer initiation season officially started on 1 November. In early December, the Eastern Cape already recorded five deaths, one in Buffalo City Municipality, two in Chris Hani District Municipality and two in OR Tambo District Municipality.
At the time, the province had already made 21 arrests linked to illegal initiation activities. The number of deaths has continued to rise since then, with Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Velenkosini Hlabisa, confirming that 41 initiates have lost their lives across several provinces. In an interview withNewzroom Afrikaon Tuesday, the minister attributed the deaths to negligence by school principals and parents.
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“The reason why we activated our monitoring to be stronger on Christmas Eve is because we knew the high rate of possibility of negligence, because what we have noticed, where there are deaths, is as a result of negligence,” Hlabisa told the news channel. “The first one, dehydration, the initiates are told not to drink water, so that they can heal faster, and that is wrong information. If you don’t drink water for almost more than a month, you are not going to survive.
“We want to make an appeal, because some of the boys are told by parents at home that you do not drink water before you go there, do not drink water when you are there, because I want you to heal quicker. That is wrong information; if you don’t drink water, you will suffer from dehydration. “A huge number of deaths is an irresponsible behaviour of the principals of schools, and some parents who compel boys not to drink water.
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