South Africa addressing deaths of hundreds of boys in secret circumcision ceremonies
Officials in South Africa are investigating multiple deaths of boys who were engaged in a circumcision ritual that is held in secrecy but has long been dangerous for its participants
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Several schools in South Africa’s Eastern Cape region have been temporarily shuttered after the deaths of at least 20 boys in top-secret circumcision ceremonies.
The government’s religious and cultural commission also is calling for the arrests of those responsible, the BBC is reporting. The weeks-long initiation ceremony, called Ukwaluka, requires boys 15 to 17 to spend up to a month in the wild learning how to be upstanding men. The details of the ritual are known only to those who take part.
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While Ukwaluka is seen as a time of celebration, the initiation does not always go off without troubles. Last year, hundreds of boys were hospitalized and treated for mishaps such as penile amputation, septic wounds and dehydration, the BBC reports. Since 2012, more than 400 boys have died from circumcisions that went awry, South Africa’s government reports.
The BBC reports that most of the medical problems have come from lack of proper wound care. Most of the boys who have died were undergoing the initiation through unregistered schools that have cropped up.
In June, more than 100 boys were rescued from such illegal schools, according to the BBC. In that case, the person who was performing the circumcisions and his assistants were arrested, News24 reported.
“We are seeing the mushrooming of these illegal initiation schools, where individuals are inviting people to send their boys at an exorbitant fee,” government spokesperson Mamkeli Ngam told News24. “That’s why we are saying it’s now the commercialization of the practice which is against tradition,” Ngam said.
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The government is coming up with ways to address the crisis. The initiation schools now must register with the government before being allowed to carry out circumcisions, the BBC reports. Health centers funded by the government are also performing the ritual as an alternative to the traditional methods, although critics say this dilutes their cultural history.
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