Four parents and a guardian who had to club together to raise R1 500 to hire a minibus taxi so that the police could escort them to an illegal initiation school to rescue the children thought their nightmare would end when they brought them back home safely. But their ordeal had just begun.
Two of the boys have returned to the initiation school, with the other three parents scared they will wake to the news that their children have also done the same. Adding to their frustration is the cavalier attitude allegedly displayed by the police in the area.
Parents Lindiwe Motswahae, Florida Bondzela, Sipho Mabaso and Agnes Matabane from Etwatwa in Ekurhuleni, as well as guardian Sibongile Matseme, discovered that the schoolboys aged 14 to 17 were at the Dolph Mawela initiation school in Mabopane, Tshwane – 130km away.
The boys disappeared on Saturday, May 14. The following day, a group of boys and young men came to their homes to report that the missing boys were “at the mountain”.
“They told me, ‘Gogo, we are from Mabopane. Mawela said your son is with them’,” said 60-year-old Lindiwe Motswahae, Bondzela’s mother and the grandmother of one of the boys.
“I told them it is not our tradition and they told me it is not their problem. They said I must sign a form, and I refused and told them we do not agree to this.”
The group visited the other families, prompting the parents and guardian to report the matter at the local police station.
“We were told to come back on Monday [May 16] at 7.30am because the station commander is not in and he is the only one that deals with matters that involve minors,” said Matseme, the guardian of a 17-year-old boy.
Matseme said they were at the police station before 7.30am on Monday. “But by 9am we were still waiting for the police to assist us. They told us they were on parade. We were eventually told [that] the police would fetch the children from the initiation school.”
She said when they did not hear from the police on Tuesday, they returned to the police station. “On Wednesday, the station commander said there is no case opened, therefore as the police they cannot do anything,” said Matseme.
She added that it was only after they made calls to various community representatives that they were told that the police station did not have a car to transport them to Mabopane to fetch the children, adding that the police could only provide a police van to escort them.
“We put together the required R1 500 for transport,” she said.
A pregnant Bondzela said she was shocked at the treatment they got from the police. “Their stance was that the children were not taken against their will, that as parents [the fact] we were not informed or grant permission did not matter to them,” she said.
Bondzela added that the boys were being promised a better life after initiation and convinced to join the initiation school.
“Where will I magically get the money to build him his own room? As a family we don’t even have 10kg samp, but there is a list of things we must buy, including alcohol,” she said.
Added Motswahae: “I’m unemployed. I can barely put food on the table.”
Matseme said they picked up the boys from Hebron police station on Wednesday. Sadly, two of the boys have returned to the initiation school.
Motswahae, whose son returned, said: “They threaten them that they will go crazy if they don’t come back.”
Florida found out by telephone that her son also returned. “The caller, who is the owner, said I must check my son’s pillow. I found the letter he wrote, saying he decided to go back,” she said.
“We may not see him again because we don’t have the money and the police are not coming to our rescue.”
The Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee in Gauteng (PICC), which includes traditional leaders, municipalities, health, social development, and the police, said Dolph Mawela is not approved by the committee in line with the Customary Initiation Act of 2021.
According to Mary Martins, responding on behalf of the PICC, the police are required to investigate any complaint brought by parents who did not give consent for their minor children to attend an initiation school.
“The SAPS must investigate whether the initiates attending the non-registered initiation school could be regarded as abducted or kidnapped and submit the docket to the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] for a decision on whether anyone should be prosecuted for abduction or kidnapping,” said Martins.
“Unfortunately, in recent years many have distorted the cultural practice for financial gain and greed at the expense of children’s lives.
“We urge any aggrieved parents to contact the PICC secretariat at or with further information so that an investigation can be conducted on the matter,” added Martins.
Professor David Mosoma, the chairperson of the Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Commission, said parents can also report matters to the commission.
“The role of the parents in the initiation process is very important … It is the responsibility of the commission to ensure that the cultural practice of initiation is not marred in controversy.”
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