National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Luxolo Tyali, confirmed that the Mbizana Regional Court has sentenced four men to sentences ranging between four and 15 years for offenses related to traditional circumcision.
In a statement released on September 25, he said non-registered traditional surgeon, Yongama Mdludla (21), was sentenced to 15 years after pleading guilty to contravening the Customary Initiation Act 02 of 2021 and culpable homicide.
Tyali stated that his accomplices, Yamkela Bentswana (27) and Mihlali Khiphi (24), were sentenced to eight years for their roles in the death of an initiate, Mvuyisi Dingile (17), in November 2023.
He said Mdludla was the principal of a non-registered initiation school at Mfuleni locality in Mbizana.
“He accepted six boys without medical certificates, as required by the act, including the deceased. After they were circumcised by the non-registered traditional surgeon, Bentswana and Khiphi then came to assist Mdludla in looking after the initiates. The deceased started to hallucinate at night. All three accused started to assault him with hands and sticks until he died at the initiation school. The cause of death, according to the postmortem, was severe assault,” said Tyali.
He added that a day before the sentencing of these three men, the same court sentenced Luthando Madikizela (33) to eight years, of which four years were suspended, for the same contravention of the Customary Initiation Act 02 of 2021.
Madikizela also pleaded guilty, accepting that as a registered traditional surgeon, he was approached by the principal of an illegal initiation school, Mdludla, who requested him to circumcise four underaged boys, and he agreed and proceeded to circumcise the young boys.
“Arguing for an appropriate sentence, Senior Public Prosecutor Nkululeko Mathenjwa prayed for harsh sentences, stating that the death of initiates at the hands of reckless bogus traditional surgeons and nurses had reached epidemic proportions and that called for equally harsh sentences to serve as a deterrent. The Magistrate, Zanekhaya Gxarisa, agreed.”
The Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Bary Madolo, commended all involved in the successful prosecution, adding that the sentences were a clear indication that the courts are taking traditional circumcision-related cases seriously.
