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Mail & Guardian
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The customary practice in South Africa, which is a rite of passage from boyhood to manhood, is often riddled with controversy between those calling for it to be completely scrapped in favour of circumcision at hospitals and staunch traditionalists demanding its continued preservation.

KwaGaba Initiation School: A family’s answer to challenges in cultural male initiation

It is vital that the safety and security of initiates is enhanced throughout ulwaluko schools in the Eastern Cape

Potted history: Sian Tiley-Nel (right), chief curator of the Mapungubwe collection and assistant Helma Steenkamp. Photo: Stefan Heunis/AFP

Pottery dating reveals the origins of Venda

Dating techniques have traced the origins of the Venda language and culture to Mapungubwe, where two distinct cultures merged at initiation schools.

Starbucks’ expansion runs out of steam in South Africa
 (Photo Archive)

Initiation Bill trips over Contralesa

Amakhosi say they have not been consulted and have been insulted because women are involved

‘It is imperative that we continuously visit the circumcised so as to make sure that they are not ill-treated and that they are safe

Cogta pleads with parents to check legitimacy of initiation centres

Any parent whose child is harmed, or who has suspicions about the place the child is going, must open a complaint at a police station

The customary practice in South Africa, which is a rite of passage from boyhood to manhood, is often riddled with controversy between those calling for it to be completely scrapped in favour of circumcision at hospitals and staunch traditionalists demanding its continued preservation.

Justice failed, says initiates’ father

Two traditional nurses found guilty of mutilating a man’s two sons were given an ‘insulting’ sentence

Tradition: Xhosa initiate Fezikhaya Tselane

A letter to my Xhosa fathers and brothers

"I am a Xhosa woman who is raising a Xhosa boy. If this is your manhood, madoda, keep it. Your priorities are very skewed".

Abakhwetha

Boys endanger manhood to be men

Overwhelming peer pressure drives some youngsters to circumcise themselves

Hope for victims of botched circumcisions

Young men who have lost their penises during initiation may be in line for free reconstruction

The drama started in July 2017

Exposing a culture’s wounds

It’s been fêted around the world, but Inxeba’s smashed stereotypes will cause a stir locally

Chiefs: ‘No initiate will die this season’

Traditional leaders believe new government rules will prevent young men from dying this winter.

‘It is imperative that we continuously visit the circumcised so as to make sure that they are not ill-treated and that they are safe

Rip-off artists are the real threat to koma

This sacred community ritual has been subverted and sullied by predatory and deadly opportunists.

At least 80 male and female initiates

Illegal North West initiation schools closed down

Two illegal initiation schools have been shut down in North West, says the traditional affairs department, while authorities search for the owners.

Minister of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe. (Gallo)

Initiation school owner guilty of teen deaths

The owner of an initiation school has been found guilty of culpable homicide after the death of an initiate.

Three initiates have sufferred burn injuries in an incident at an initiation school in the Eastern Cape.

Rights of injured initiates violated

The Eastern Cape Department of Health has condemned handlers at an initiation school for denying three injured boys treatment.

Thirty circumcision deaths so far in Eastern Cape

Eastern Cape government has called an emergency meeting after 30 initiates were killed in the summer initiation season so far.

Modise slams illegal initiation schools for ‘undermining our tradition’

Following the deaths of two teenage initiates, North West Premier Thandi Modise has demanded the closure of illegally run initiation schools.

The boys who lost their manhood

During this initiation season, we look back at what happened in 2013 when bungled initiations cost boys their penises.

There is always more depth to be found in and written about the many social problems that clamour for attention.

ANCYL: Initiation schools should be regulated

The ANC Youth League has called for initiation schools in South Africa to be regulated after cases of botched circumcision in the Eastern Cape arose.

Murder charges for botched circumcisions in Eastern Cape

Autopsy reports show that some of the 30 initiates who died last month in the Eastern Cape were assaulted by traditional surgeons.

An unknown man has been shot and killed at an Eastern Cape initiation school.

Man shot dead at E Cape initiation school

A man has been shot dead at an initiation school near Bityi early on Tuesday morning, say Eastern Cape police.