The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Public Health has urged parents, circumcision practitioners, and traditional leaders to ensure all compliance requirements are completed in time for the upcoming initiation season.
The initiation season will begin on June 14 for out-of-school boys and on June 27 for in-school boys.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, in partnership with the Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and the Nelson Mandela Bay Traditional Initiation Forum, has launched awareness programmes throughout the Metro. These initiatives aim to guide affected families and practitioners through the required compliance procedures.
Medical screenings will be available from:
June 1, for out-of-school boys
June 27, for in-school boys
MMC Buyeye emphasised, “To ensure a safe initiation season, planning and compliance are essential.
“All necessary registrations must be completed — no circumcision will be allowed without full compliance in Nelson Mandela Bay.”
He said Nelson Mandela Bay prides itself on being one of the safest areas in relation to the initiates’ safety.
“Working with parents and all stakeholders, we would like to continue maintaining our status of being one of the safest areas and communities to practise this important custom in our culture. It is for this reason that we warn everyone to be compliant with the law,” said MMC Buyeye.
Medical screening is mandatory before initiation to ensure fitness. Parents/guardians must give consent, and boys must give informed consent in compliance with the law.
The law also empowers health inspectors and traditional councils to monitor initiation schools, wherein unregistered or unsafe initiation practices are regarded as criminal offences.
Performing circumcision on a minor under 16 (except for medical/religious reasons) is also a criminal offence.
Running an unregistered initiation school or performing procedures unsafely can lead to fines, imprisonment, or both.
Death or injury due to unlawful circumcision may lead to charges such as culpable homicide.
