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The DA in the Western Cape notes that the 2016 winter initiation season for the Xhosa and Basotho will be commencing in the coming weeks and we welcome the news that the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport in the Western Cape is well prepared.

In my capacity as Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Cultural Affairs and Sport in the Western Cape Provincial Legislature, I will call on the Department on Cultural Affairs and Sport, as well as role players, to brief the Standing Committee on the details of their plans to ensure that no deaths are recorded this initiation season.

The Basotho and Xhosa in the Province will commence with an initiation process as a rite of passage into manhood and many boys will go to various initiation sites around the Western Cape to practice this ritual. It is a proud moment for families and the boys who will return to their families as men. However, in the past we have witnessed boys returning in bad shape, with some losing their lives due to negligence of health and safety during these initiation rites.

We therefore urge all those that are tasked with caring for the boys during this time to ensure that the health of the initiates is prioritised. We also urge families to ensure that those they entrust with their boys health is a practitioner or traditional surgeon that has received training and is fully capable in terms of administering initiation rites of passage, specifically where circumcision is concerned. 

The Western Cape had no reported fatalities during the 2015 initiation season. This was largely due to the measures that the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport had put in place to regulate the practise. The DA in the Western Cape intends that the same is ensured this year. 

The DA is committed to creating safe enabling environments for all members of our society, and ensure the effective rite of passage to responsible adults and citizenship.

Issued by DA Western Cape