NORTHERN CAPE – An illegal initiation school with 118 initiates was successfully shut down on Tuesday 25 November following a tip-off which prompted an immediate verification and response.
In a statement, the Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee (PICC) in the Northern Cape said this illegal initiation school was operating at Bendall within the John Taolo Gaetsewe (JTG) District.
According to the approved initiation schedule for the current season, no initiation schools were authorised to operate in the JTG District.
“Upon arrival, the PICC found 118 initiates linked to the illegal school. Of these, 111 were still in the induction phase at a kraal, while the remaining seven were transferred to a legal school in the North West.
“Before the school was formally disbanded, the principal operator was taken through the specific legal violations committed under the Customary Initiation Act,” stated the PICC.
Section 26 of the Act requires all initiation schools to be duly registered, with certificates valid only for the specific initiation season indicated.
Section 33 outlines offences applicable to illegal initiation practices. Under this section, a person commits a criminal offence if they:
• operate or hold a non-registered initiation school;
• accept an initiate under the age of 16; and
• accept any initiate without the required medical certificate or parental/guardian consent, as prescribed by the Act.
The operator was duly informed of these contraventions (operating a non-registered initiation school), and a case has been opened with the South African Police Service.
The PICC reiterates its commitment to ensuring that all customary initiation practices in the Northern Cape are conducted lawfully, safely, and with full compliance to the Customary Initiation Act, to protect the dignity, wellbeing and lives of initiates.
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