The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) has called on law enforcement agencies to investigate recent incidents of killings, including fatal shootings, at initiation schools in the Eastern Cape.
This is the view of the chairperson of the CRL Rights Commission, Prof David Mosoma.
Rising death rates a concern
Masoma was speaking in light of the recent deaths that have plagued initiation schools in the Eastern Cape since the summer season began.
Spokesperson for the CRL Rights Commission Mpiyakhe Mkholo said the Chapter Nine institution is pained by the deaths at the initiation schools in the Eastern Cape.
Mkholo said this summer season only accounts for approximately 28 initiates who died, but did hasten to add that the death toll may have increased by now.
“The death of the initiates show insensitivity and lack of empathy on the part of the leaders for the humanity of the initiates and a betrayal of the rights of the cultural practice of initiation. The chairperson of the CRL Rights Commission, Prof [David] Mosoma appeals to law enforcement agencies to urgently investigate and bring to book all the perpetrators of the deaths at the initiation schools in the Eastern Cape,” said Mkholo.
Call for arrest of perpetrators
“If crime is found to have been committed in the act of initiation, and those who shot and killed the initiates, long sentence should be handed down as a deterrent for their crime, negligence, and/or botched circumcisions and penile amputations. As a commission, we have reached a stage where action to end deaths in the initiation schools in the Eastern Cape is more important than spending time in describing the problems of the deaths without providing lasting solutions,” said Mkholo.
Mkholo said in January next year, the CRL Rights Commission will convene to consider appropriate steps and actions to end the deaths of the initiates in the Eastern Cape.
Incidents of killings at initiation schools in the Eastern Cape are getting out of hand, with five people shot in a space of one week, leading to four deaths.
Last week, a 28-year-old man was shot dead in Gqeberha, Walmer township in the early hours of the morning.
Shooting incidents
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said two brothers had been asleep in a tent at an initiation school when someone asked them to come out for a smoke. Soon after, a gunshot went off and an initiate was hit and declared dead on the scene. Naidu said the motive for the shooting is not known and police are investigating.
The shooting follows another one in Nqamakwe the week before when four siblings were shot at an initiation school, also in the early hours of the morning.
Three of the siblings died on the spot while the fourth victim was admitted to the hospital with gunshot wounds.
One of the deceased brothers was an ikhankatha, a traditional nurse who looked after his siblings during the rite of passage.
In November, Sunday World reported that a 20-year-old initiate was killed at an illegal initiation school, also in the Eastern Cape. The initiate from Nkunzini near the Magwa Tea Estate in Lusikisiki died after he was allegedly assaulted.
It was revealed in January that at least 20 initiates had died during the 2022 summer initiation season.
Various causes of deaths to follow up on
The causes of the initiates’ deaths ranged from dehydration to underlying health comorbidities.
In the 2022 winter initiation season, the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs in the Eastern Cape announced the deaths of 20 initiates.
The figure was not final, as it was announced before the end of the initiation season.
At the time, MEC for co-operative governance and traditional affairs, Zolile Williams, called on community leaders, sector departments, municipalities, families and society at large to join hands and protect the custom and the initiates.
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