This week, the Eastern Cape Province’s different initiation schools will be the subject of an oversight visit by the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA).
On June 17, 2022, the Eastern Cape winter customary initiation season began, with an anticipated 40 000 initiates participating in the ceremony.
The province’s traditional initiation ritual has come to be associated with the passing away of young boys throughout the years. 40 young guys lost their lives during the summer initiation season in December 2021.
There is a need for the Portfolio Committee to evaluate the measures put in place to prevent these deaths because possible deaths during the current winter season are concerning.
The Customary Initiation Act (2021), recently passed by the government, went into effect on September 1st.
The Act calls for the creation of a National Initiation Oversight Committee, which was gazetted on October 22, 2021 by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
This committee of eleven people is charged with, among other things, keeping an eye on how the Act is being put into practice and encouraging everyone involved in initiation rituals and schools to abide by its rules.
The Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committees are another provision of the Customary Initiation Act (PICC).
Additionally, the province of the Eastern Cape is required to form a committee, which the premier must announce in the provincial gazette.
According to the National Initiation Oversight Committee’s presentation, there is evidence that the PICC for the Eastern Cape was constituted under the terms of a provincial ordinance prior to the passage of the Customary Initiation Act.
The Portfolio Committee has a responsibility to oversee the Customary Initiation Act’s implementation and keep all parties involved accountable for their various responsibilities, duties, positions, and functions.
To determine the degree to which the initiation oversight structures specified in the Customary Initiation Act are formed and operational, the committee will meet with the pertinent provincial and federal government entities during the oversight.
The committee will also evaluate the practical safeguards put in place to stop premature deaths, including carrying out a physical inspection of these safeguards.
The committee will also arrange meetings with the traditional leaders who are ultimately in charge of overseeing the initiation rituals occurring within their spheres of influence to find out what steps they have taken to promote good and safe practices, with a focus on safeguarding the lives, health, and safety of initiates.