THERE have been several breakthroughs in the Eastern Cape police's war on illegal initiation schools.
A total of 80 people have been arrested for crimes ranging from illegal circumcision to murder. This number includes 16 women who were detained for allowing minors as young as 13 to undergo this rite of passage.
Police spokesman Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli said: “These arrests are part of tightening our grip on criminal elements for contravening the Customary Initiation Act 2 of 2021 within the practice of traditional circumcision.
“Three traditional nurses made a brief appearance in the Lady Grey Magistrates Court on Monday, 18 December. The trio, aged between 23 and 35, is facing charges of attempted murder after an initiate was badly assaulted at one of the initiation schools in Lady Grey at the beginning of December."
Nkohli said the 22-year-old initiate was hospitalised in ICU after sustaining serious burn wounds and several injuries on various parts of his body.
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"An investigation led to the arrest of three suspects. The accused were remanded in custody and their next court appearance is Thursday, 21 December for them to be allocated a legal representative.
"The teams that are operating in the eight districts of the province rescued around 175 initiates from illegal initiation schools and destroyed several illegal initiation schools,” said Nkohli.
After learning that 31 initiates had died since the start of the summer initiation season in November 2023, the CRL Rights Commission came out guns blazing on Tuesday, 19 December.
CRL Rights Commission chairman Professor David Mosoma appealed to law enforcement agencies to urgently investigate and bring to book all the perpetrators of deaths at initiation schools.
He said: “If crime is found to have been committed in the act of initiation and those who shot and killed the initiates, long sentences should be handed down as a deterrent for their crime, negligence and or botched circumcision and penile amputations. As a commission, we've reached a stage where action to end deaths at initiation schools in the province is more important than spending time describing the problems of the deaths without providing lasting solutions."
