Mothers in Zeerust search for sons they say were taken to initiation schools without consent

Women in Zeerust, North West, are searching for sons they say were taken to initiation schools without their consent, according to The Citizen.

Parents report children taken against their wishes

Makgaila Khumalo told The Citizen her 16-year-old son vanished last week after he spoke about going to an initiation school and she refused. She said she was worried about the cost of initiation fees and the possibility of tragedy.

“My son spoke to me about going to the initiation school and I refused. I am worried because I do not have money to pay for the fees and conduct a welcoming ceremony. If he is to die there, how am I going to bury him because I do not have money?”

Another mother, Mmaonyanako Legodi, told The Citizen her son disappeared for the second time in two years after saying he would attend an initiation school. Legodi said she is an unemployed single mother who survives on social grants.

“During the previous winter, he left without my knowledge and I had to look for him around Mahikeng,”

Legodi also told The Citizen she had suggested circumcision at a local clinic and said she did not understand her son’s determination to attend initiation teachings.

Police say illegal schools a growing concern

North West police spokesperson Colonel Adele Myburgh told The Citizen illegal initiation schools are a cause for concern in the province, particularly in the Ngaka Modiri Molema region, which includes Zeerust, Mahikeng and Lichtenburg.

Myburgh said a missing 17-year-old prompted searches that located initiates who had been processed without parental consent. She said police found six initiates who were processed without their parents’ consent and that, disturbingly, their parents had not been looking for them.

Myburgh also revealed that around 16 initiates were rescued from illegal initiation schools in Matile village, Itsoseng and Lichtenburg. She said an initiation school owner fled with nine initiates from a mountain but was later apprehended after a tip-off that the nine were hidden in a shack in Matile village; those initiates were recovered, and a further seven initiates were rescued from another school, The Citizen reported.

Political response and regulation

Fanon Moema, EFF North West spokesperson, criticised the provincial government’s response as reactive and warned against illegal initiation schools operating as money-making schemes, The Citizen reported.

“Although we support cultural practices that take place within the legal perspectives, we are absolutely against the illegal initiation schools which operate more like money-making schemes.”

Costs and official engagement

The Citizen noted a recently adopted Government Gazette lists a rate of R3 500 for initiates and R800 for the traditional surgeon in North West. The Citizen also reported that Cogta did not respond to questions sent to it by the time of publication.

What authorities say they are doing

Myburgh said police are working with the provincial department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta), which she identified as responsible for regulation of initiation schools, The Citizen reported.