WINTER has become a very stressful season for the parents of teenage boys.
Parents from Daveyton in Ekurhuleni told Daily Sun that boys were pressured by their peers to go to initiation schools and were sometimes even abducted by these schools.
Early this week a group of parents from the area received calls from their sons saying they were at an initiation school in Dennilton, Mpumalanga. They told them they would have to pay R3 000 and a goat for each boy to be released.
One furious parent, Ndoda Bambisa (59), whose 16-year-old was allegedly kidnapped, said: “This is not part of our culture.
“Most of these boys have already been circumcised.”
Martha Nhlapho said she was worried about peer pressure among the boys.
“The boys who went to the initiation schools are mocking those who didn’t go. They tell them they have polo necks,” she said.
However, some parents said they were fine with their kids being at the school because it was part of their culture.
Petrus Mkwane – who runs the school – said the boys from Daveyton arrived on their own and he didn’t force them.
But he didn’t want to talk about what needed to be done for them to be released.
Sam Khandlela of traditional affairs said they were aware of the issue. He said the schools should be registered and boys needed to have a medical examination before attending.