SOUTH AFRICA: 11 circumcision deaths so far this season

AP via CTV News (Canada)
June 26, 2014

Botched circumcision rituals in South Africa kill 11 young men

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The South African government says 11 young men have died so far this year in botched circumcision rituals that have killed hundreds in past years.

The government said in a statement Thursday that seven of the deaths in the current initiation season happened in South Africa's Eastern Cape province.

The ministry is urging traditional leaders to work with state medical experts to prevent deaths, some of which are due to dehydration and septic shock. It also says owners of illegal initiation schools should be arrested and prosecuted.

The circumcision ceremonies are meant to usher youths into manhood. Initiations are mostly practiced by the Xhosa tribe in eastern South Africa.

SOUTH AFRICA: Hitman shot bride for circumcision fee

Daily Star (London)
April 13, 2014

Anni Dewani trial: Gunman 'needed the cash for tribal circumcision'

A GUNMAN shot dead Anni Dewani to pay for his ritual circumcision, it was claimed last night.
by Shekhar Bhatia
Her family say Xolile Mngeni was “ashamed” to have turned 25 without having the operation in line with tribal tradition.

Zulu boys are circumcised by the age of 18 and put through a gruelling regime as a right of passage.
But drug dealer Mngeni lived with his elderly grandmother and became stressed when friends discovered he had failed “to become a real man”.

The murder plot was suggested to him by taxi driver Zola Tongo.

Mngeni agreed because his share of the £1,400 hit fee would help pay for the circumcision and a three-month “initiation school” in the mountains.

Last night Anni’s uncle Ashok said: “We have been informed of Mngeni’s reasons for shooting her and it has made us as a family even more angry.

“I have since read about the Zulu tribal initiation ceremony and it is meant to make men out of boys.
“But Mngeni has a sick view of it all. He shot a defenceless young ­woman on her honeymoon and planned to use his blood money to make himself appear as a man.

“He is not a man. He is an evil human being or even an animal and I hope he rots for the rest of his life in jail.

“Any such circumcision could not cost that much in South Africa and it is shocking to think he killed somebody for those reasons.”

Zulu initiation ceremonies generally see young men forced into seclusion in the bush or mountains for around three months ­before undergoing circumcision and painting their skin with white clay. [This seems to be a description of Xhosa ceremonies. Zulu circumcision only goes back to 2009. It had been stopped by Shaka Zulu (1787–1828).]

Mngeni was convicted of premeditated murder and jailed for life. He was also convicted of aggravated ­robbery and illegal ­possession of a firearm.

Tongo was jailed for 18 years and Mziwamadoda Qwabe got 25 years for the murder. All three men implicated ­Anni’s husband as having ordered her murder.

Millionaire businessman Shrien Dewani, 34, of Bristol, was extradited to South Africa last week and charged with his wife’s murder after a three-and-a-half year battle to remain in Britain.

Dewani is accused of ordering the hit on his new wife Anni, 28, who was shot in Tongo’s taxi in November 2010.
...

JOHANNESBURG: Minister blames 34 circumcision deaths on "greed"

Blame anything but circumcision

S. African circumcision 'hijacked': minister

by Aaron Motsoaledi


Cape Town: South Africa's health minister says traditional male circumcision rituals have been "hijacked" by people looking to make money from the rite of passage, fuelling a spike in deaths of young males.

Police have reported that 34 young men have died in recent weeks in two provinces during rituals to mark the passage into manhood at so-called initiation schools in the bush.

"Over the years, this century-old culture has been slowly corrupted and eroded to give way to commercial interests," minister Aaron Motsoaledi told lawmakers in a debate called on the deaths.

"Then mutilations and deaths started rising year by year until we are at this point", which he said was reaching crisis proportions. Advertisement

South African boys from ethnic Xhosa, Sotho and Ndebele groups typically spend around a month in secluded bush or mountains areas for their initiation.

This includes the circumcision carried out by traditional surgeons -- sometimes using unsterilised instruments or lacking in technique -- as well as lessons on masculine courage and discipline.

Botched circumcisions, leading to penis amputations and deaths are an annual tragedy in South Africa. However the latest deaths, with 28 in one province alone, have prompted fresh outrage and calls for action.

"We are mostly dealing with individuals who have decided to hijack certain African cultures to amass wealth for themselves, make huge amounts of money in as short a time as possible hiding under the cloak of culture and tradition," said Mr Motsoaledi.

A health ministry spokesman could not give details on the amounts charged other than "there's a lot of money involved".

"Those who flouted these laws must be brought to book and arrested without fear and favour regardless of their social, cultural and traditional standing," the minister told lawmakers.

Earlier story

SOUTH AFRICA: 27 die from circumcision

No, circumcision is to blame.


AFP
May 21, 2013

Local leader blames negligence in S. Africa circumcision deaths

JOHANNESBURG — Negligence is to blame for some of the 27 deaths of young males who died while undergoing ritual circumcision, a local traditional leader said Tuesday.

The death toll during the procedures -- part of traditional rites of passage into manhood -- on Friday climbed to 27, police said.

South African police last week said they had launched a series of murder inquiries into the matter and President Jacob Zuma has called on them to move faster in their investigation and arrest the culprits.

The latest four deaths occurred on Friday in the northeastern Mpumalanga province.

"We have proven that there was some negligence," Kgoshi Mathibela Mokoena, head of the traditional leaders in the provincial parliament told AFP.

He said preliminary findings showed that some of the 30,000 males currently undergoing the circumcision rites, had developed complications but were not administered proper after-care after they were left in the hands of inexperienced young men.

After conducting the procedures, some of the circumcisers left and returned to the secluded bushy sites, hours later, some of them drunk.

Other people suffered from dehydration as it was established some of the 200 odd sites dotted across the province lacked clean drinking water.

Despite the escalating death toll, police are yet to make arrests almost two weeks after the first death occurred on May 8.

"There is a huge amount of investigation, it's not a question of arresting but doing the right things during the investigation," said police spokesman Leonard Hlathi, dismissing fears some of the perpetrators may flee.

Police have so far launched series of murder inquests into the deaths of the boys and young men aged between 13 and 20 years, but Zuma said they were not acting fast enough.

"While we welcome action taken by police so far in opening murder dockets, we wish to urge them to ensure swift justice for the families and that those responsible for the deaths are brought to book without delay", he said in a statement.

The country is "outraged at this massive and unnecessary loss of young life at the hands of those who are supposed to nurture and protect them," said the president.

Ritual circumcision is common among South Africa's ethnic Xhosa, Sotho and Ndebele ethnic groups.

Deaths at the so-called initiation schools in South Africa are common, with several hundred cases recorded in recent years due to bleeding and infections.

Boys spend around a month in secluded bush or mountains sites for the sessions that also include lessons on the virtues of masculine courage and discipline.

SOUTH AFRICA: 23 die from circumcision

Herald Sun
May 17, 2013

Ritual circumcision kills 23 in S Africa

SOUTH African police said they had launched a series of murder inquiries after 23 males died while undergoing circumcision during traditional rites of passage into manhood.

The 23 - aged between 13 and 21 - died in various places across the country's northeastern Mpumalanga province over the course of a week.

"We have opened 22 cases of murder and one of inquest," regional police spokesman Leonard Hlathi told AFP.

One of the deaths was labelled an inquest because the boy reportedly had an existing health condition.

There have been no arrests yet as police compile statements and await post-mortem results.

Ritual circumcision is common among South Africa's ethnic Xhosa, Sotho and Ndebele ethnic groups.

Deaths at so-called initiation schools in South Africa are common, with several hundred cases recorded in recent years due to bleeding and infections.

Boys spend around a month in secluded bush or mountains areas for the sessions that also include lessons on the virtues of masculine courage and discipline.

There are usually two circumcision seasons - in winter during the months of May through July and in summer between November and December.

Government and the ruling African National Congress Party have expressed concern at the deaths which have nonetheless sparked little public outrage.

Government spokeswoman Phumla Williams called on the initiation schools "to ensure that precautionary health measures are exercised during this period to minimise illnesses and death".

Minister in The Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Collins Chabane said he was saddened by the loss of young lives.

The "loss of several young lives in Mpumalanga and elsewhere in the country is regrettable," Chabane said this week.

Earlier story