Teen recalls torture at circumcision school

A DECISION to celebrate his 16th birthday by being circumcised will haunt an Eastern Cape teenager forever after he was tortured for 10 days at an initiation school.

The initiate said he was beaten with sticks, kicked in the chest and burnt on the buttocks and knees with smouldering plastic at an illegal initiation school in Ngqeleni.

He was fed only half-cooked, dry pap and given no water to drink – the first time water touched his lips was when it was poured over him after he lost consciousness.

Finally, after 10 days of hell, his mother was contacted to fetch him.

"I don't know what happened, but when I woke up I was at home. I do not know how I got here. The last thing I remember was that when I was made to sing loudly, I felt dizzy. Each time I collapsed, the young men there poured cold water over me. It was scary and traumatic. I thought I was dying," the initiate said.

How the 16-year-old ended up at the illegal initiation school is a story many boys of his age can relate to. He said he came under extreme pressure from his peers to "become a man". This was after initiates as young as 14 had gone to the bush and returned, no longer his friends, as they were now considered men.

"Some of my old friends advised it was time I go for it. They explained it was an easy thing and a beautiful experience you'd never regret.

"I'd always dreamt of being circumcised and contributing positively in society. But I wanted to do it the right way at the right time."

The boy made the necessary arrangements and on his birthday left home with R430 he had stolen from his mother. He took a taxi to Mabheshe village in Ngqeleni, where he bought a bottle of brandy as payment to the bogus traditional surgeon. The rest of the money was used to buy mealie meal.

He and an older friend, 23, were circumcised and placed in a disused rondavel. "They made us sing all day long. For two days we were not fed and later we were fed only dry pap and were denied water for eight days. Even the men whom I thought were my friends, and had sent me to the initiation school, attacked me. When I cried, they laughed at me and said I was a coward and would not make a man of good standing."

Following his ordeal, local gospel singer Sipho Nkente, who was concerned he might die at home, arranged for him to be taken to Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha. Yesterday he was still moving with difficulty and using walking sticks. Wounds on his buttocks, back and arms had turned septic.

His 45-year-old single mother, who sells fruit in Mthatha, said she had been worried about her son.

"I did not know where he was. I only received a call on June 17 and the caller said that he was circumcised and was fine before hanging up. He later called to say my son was in Ngqeleni and he let me speak to him," she said.

The mother, who had not yet opened a case with police, said doctors told her that her son had kidney failure and was dehydrated.

Members of an initiation monitoring team led by Chief Mnoneleli Ranuga yesterday promised to intervene. "We can't sit down and fold our arms whilst our boys are deliberately being killed," Ranuga said. - Lulamile Feni