The health department is expecting more than one thousand boys will go under the knife by the time this year’s circumcision season is over.
Xolani Mene, the official who is in charge of circumcision, says that between 1 200 and 1 500 boys will be undergoing the traditional rite of passage in the December/January season. He added that 375 boys became men during the June/July season.
The health department is expecting more than one thousand boys will go under the knife by the time this year’s circumcision season is over.
Xolani Mene, the official who is in charge of circumcision, says that between 1 200 and 1 500 boys will be undergoing the traditional rite of passage in the December/January season. He added that 375 boys became men during the June/July season.
Mene appealed to parents to look after their sons and not leave the health and wellbeing of their children entirely to the traditional nurses, arguing that some unscrupulous nurses stop dressing the wounds prematurely. "They are only in it for the money," he explained. "They take people’s money and yet they don’t finish the job."
He alleged that some traditional surgeons and nurses are circumcising boys without identity documents, which is a violation of the legislation regulating circumcisions. "They are accepting boys with temporary identity documents and sworn affidavits, when the law prohibits them from operating in that manner," he said.
He also said that he discovered that some traditional nurses were using flowers and herbs to treat the boys’ wounds and that this practice is wrong because they are supposed to use only a specific plant named isichwe. He said he has suspended the guilty nurse while he has issie=ued warnings to others.
Local elder and cultural activist Cecil Nonqane agreed with Mene that only isicwe is acceptable. "Only isichwe was used on me, the same applied to all my boys," he exaplained. "The plant is available throughout the year." He added that some traditional nurses are "lazy to find the wild plant" and resort to using shortcuts.
Nonqane also said that he looked after a group of boys who spent six months in initiation schools undergoing training in masculinity and humanity. "My group went to the school in March and came back in September," ahe said.
He says the the main circumcision season shifting to December can be atrributed to economic and social developments. He said the change was meant to accomodate school-going boys so as not interrupt their studies and the "unbearable costs of keeping a boy in the bush for a protracted period".
He accused households headed by woman of "diluting the ritual" arguing that some mothers tend to dictate the terms of the operation to traditional nurses in order to ensure a smooth journey for their son. He argued that women should not interfere with the manner in which the rite is performed.
