In recent years the practice has been marred by the mutilation or death of young initiates at the hands of unscrupulous pseudo-traditional surgeons, who take advantage of the young boys' naivety in their quest to make a quick buck. Many have been scarred for life while others lost their manhood.

Traditional circumcisions take place over the June and December holidays.

My journey is taking me to the small Karoo town of Cradock in Eastern Cape, where I will be documenting the passage to manhood of young Xhosa boys.

I had to ask myself why I was tackling this project. Perhaps a part of me wants to show that if done correctly - by accredited surgeons under good conditions - there are still areas where ulwaluko remains the pride of the people practising it.

My first meeting is with ingcibi (traditional surgeon) Rontom who will be circumcising 15 boys that day.

What makes Rontom different from other ingcibis is that he is accredited with the Department of Health - meaning he has undergone the basic training on hygiene and how to treat complicated cases.

This was the beginning of my four-week visit in the bush documenting the passage of the young boys into manhood. Some I would later regard as my friends - despite resistance and objections initially to having a camera lens shoved into their intrepid faces.

Ulwaluko is an integral part of the Xhosa culture which signifies the transition from boyhood to manhood.

It is 4pm and a group of boys emerge naked from the river to begin a new stage in their young lives.

This is Rontom's moment . He has been doing this since 1967.

With his old goat-hide bag over his shoulder, Rontom steps forward and pulls out a shiny spear from his bag. He runs his index finger over its sharp blade as he prepares for action.

The boys sit down, with their legs apart and Rontom goes into action moving from one young man to another - changing spears as his assistants sterilise them after each use.

With each cut, the initiates shout "Aah ndiyindoda!" (I am a man).

Four weeks later, the initiates leave the initiation school as young men, to be welcome by their families into the their new lives.

Comments

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Wed Jun 19 08:23:29 SAST 2013 ::

Oct 21, 2011

Rabubi02

What horse cr@p is this??? like WTF? bavume njani ukuba iintatheli zingene ehlathini? hayi imali inamanyala. i wonder how much they got paid to sell out!! f*cking idiots!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Oct 21, 2011

dre10

why our tradition is being exploited like this?

U never see Sotho initiates in media like this.

This tradition is done in secret for a reason.

I wonder if other men are real Xhosa men.
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Oct 21, 2011

Vhamsanda

It is a very good feeling being in the mountains with peers sharing the experience of manhood and pain. But the pain is more severe during voluntary erections at night !!!
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Oct 21, 2011

MommaC

It is only 'controversial' because we have a whole government department and a leach load of 'traditional leaders' whom we, the taxpayer, fork out for. If they did their jobs then there would not be these charlatans who don't do this properly resulting in kids infected with HIV, Hep C and various other diseases.

True story:
My maid nearly fainted when she heard that her 11 year old son had been whisked off to initiation camp - ELEVEN years old for goodness sakes! Nowhere on earth is that even close to manhood!. He isn't even Xhosa. The family was told in no uncertain terms that it would cost R2,500 or he would NOT be coming home again. Contacting the police, government departments and traditional leaders got us nowhere. Luckily he came home in one piece (so to speak) and my doctor only had to give him antibiotics to control the pneumonia that he had come down with. It could have been so much worse.
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Oct 21, 2011

lep-G

Yea being a man is one hell of a job...if you have gone through the pain of being cut then nothing can be more painful...i`m proudly saying that it is good for the press to show us that there is people out there who are qualified to do the procedure properly....cause boys these days go to clinics. Proud Man..
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Oct 21, 2011

DinuZulu

Athenkosi Dyantyi ulilulwane nalamakhwenkwe avumele iintatheli zingene ehlathini!
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Oct 21, 2011

twoboy1

Lenkwenkwe (Simphiwe Nkwali-journalist) iyasiqhela yikaka le uyibhala apha ibibuzwe ngubani? Why didnt you go to Limpompo or any other province who also do this tradition?

Uyinja (a dog) utsho nge-jwaba elide, why are publicising our secretive traditional stories.
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Oct 21, 2011

DinuZulu

MommaC

We share the same sentiment, that government need to monitor this on a more hands on manner and make sure that the boys are more protected. What would your solution be besides getting rid of ANC because that going to happen one way or the other.........

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Oct 21, 2011

HUSTLER

@Simphiwe Nkwali

Ulihlazo kwisizwe sakwaXhosa. Ngenxa yantoni? "IMALI" Ibingekho enye into ubonokubhala ngayo? Ude ufote ipictures pho? Andiqondi uba woluka wena kuqala.

@Vhamsanda
It is a very good feeling being in the mountains with peers sharing the experience of manhood and pain. But the pain is more severe during voluntary erections at night !!!

Who asked you the details? I doubt you know it from experience mayb from hearsay. yes.
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Oct 21, 2011

3rd_Story

@ Sowetan.. Write a fcuken story about this!!!

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SIES...



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