Court orders access to Stellenbosch’s deadly initiation school

A third boy was suffering from “severe circulatory shock and had sjambok abrasions on his back and pressure sores on his buttocks” according to Dr. Ziefried McConney, from the Western Cape Department of Health. The other four boys were suffering from dehydration.

Advocate Johan de Waal said that inspections confirmed that some of the boys had been hit with sjamboks and that they had been circumcised “in an unsatisfactory manner”.

De Waal represented the Stellenbosch Municipality and Western Cape Government who successfully got a court order on 1 December against the Basotho Tribe and a man named Isaac Manoheng. The order allows representatives from the Stellenbosch Municipality, the Western Cape Government and SAPS to conduct medical and site inspections of the initiation school at Idas Valley Helshoogte Pass in Stellenbosch.

GroundUp was told that this is the second time that this has happened with the Basotho initiation school but we could not confirm this. The Basotho tribe rents land from the Stellenbosch municipality to conduct the initiations.

Representatives from Stellenbosch Municipality and the Stellenbosch hospital tried to inspect the site on 27 November to find out the state of health of the boys and the conditions of the site.

The inspectors were initially only shown 18 boys. However, they were informed that there were other boys at the site who were hidden from view. So they went back to the site on 29 November and were then shown a total of 51 boys.

According to Conrad Sidego, Stellenbosch Mayor, the medical inspectors were unable to inspect the boys properly, as the boys’ carers were not allowed to grant the inspectors consent to properly examine the boys.

Sidego said that he is “extremely concerned” about the state of health of the initiates, and that their carers are not being honest about the total number of boys at the sites and their health.

This, he says, is in breach of the contracts signed between the schools and the municipality to ensure the boys’ safety and well-being. The contracts were signed between the Stellenbosch municipality and Manoheng.

Adv. De Waal also said that the police are helpful for gaining access to the site, but that they won’t investigate the deaths unless a complaint is laid.

SAPS Western Cape said that they are investigating an inquest docket, but no arrests have been made yet. A SAPS spokesperson explained that an initiation task group has been established. It includes the Department of Health, Local Criminal Record Centre and Senior State Prosecutor. The spokesperson said they “continuously contact the initiation schools”.

According to media reports, about 30 boys have died in the Eastern Cape since the summer initiation season started.