So far, 30 initiates in the province have died from circumcision-related injuries, the provincial health department said. In the most recent case of botched circumcisions during the initiation season, ten initiates were rescued from a forest in Mbizana on Sunday, said departmental spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo. "The ten initiates' private parts are rotten. They are badly damaged. Their condition is scary." He said the initiates were recovering in hospital.
A total of 293 initiates are currently in hospital in the province recovering from dehydration, gangrene, and septic wounds. Some have lost their genitals. Teenagers from ethnic Xhosa, Sotho and Ndebele groups typically spend around a month in secluded bush or mountains areas for their initiation to manhood. This includes a circumcision as well as lessons on masculine courage and discipline. Traditional surgeons perform the procedure in the bush, sometimes with unsterilised instruments or lacking in technique.
The ANC appealed to traditional leaders, medical personnel, government and communities to work together to halt this "senseless and unnecessary loss of life." Those who are mandated with the livelihood of the young men must be provided with basic medical training and accredited in order to identify early warning signs of imminent danger, said Mthembu. "There has never been a greater urgency to act than now...our nation cannot wither and be dealt such a blow of losing the young who have so much to offer to their families and our nation as whole."
2 comments:
Training more people in medicine, or y'know, you could try not cutting the end off your wang. I suspect a slow and complicated training of more medical staff will be easier than a change in society. Why do things simply when you can do them arse-backwards.
Don't they believe in a god ? A god would not want them to cut part of their body off. And if you are going to cut something off to ensure cleanliness, cut off the ear. Morons.
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