At a time when a number of initiates are injured and even killed at initiation schools throughout the country, a well-known traditional surgeon has emerged to claim that he has a solution to curb all the deaths.

He spoke of his wish to share his knowledge and skills about the tradition, during a pass-out ceremony of initiates from three of his schools after they had successfully completed their term in the bush. The ceremony took place last weekend.

Vho Maine Vho Thifhulufheli Nemavhulani (44) of Tshilindi-Tshimbupfe this year had three successful schools at Hasani, Homu and Jim Nghalalume. More than a thousand initiates safely returned to their families during a mammoth festival that was held at Hasani Village outside Malamulele. Nemavhulani said he was worried about the state of initiation schools in the country, where many initiates die during circumcision every year.

“The initiation custom has been invaded by greedy and unscrupulous impostors who purport to have been called by the ancestors but are defiling our beautiful culture,” he said. Nemavhulani said traditional circumcision was a calling and he heeded the call at the early age of 15. He said he had never had any casualty or injury at any of his schools and attributes all his successes to his ancestors.

“I have been chosen by the ancestors to do this trade. I was not taught by anybody and this is the reason why I am succeeding,” he said. He said he was shocked to learn of the many deaths that occurred in many parts of the Eastern Cape. “These things will never occur if only the chosen few do the job and not these crooks who claim to be surgeons, but are just after money. We have to stop them in their tracks before many innocent lives are lost,” he said.

Nemavhulani urged the government to give him the chance to hold a workshop for all traditional surgeons who lack skills in the initiation trade in order to stop the unnecessary deaths at the schools. “I have some secretes to share, but I cannot divulge them here. I have a solution to the deaths, but that I can do through workshops only, with the blessing of our government,” he said. He said the government was the only institution that could put a halt to the scourge of deaths at the schools by employing experienced teachers like him to oversee the schools with the help of traditional leaders. “Traditional leaders are the custodians of our culture and together we can put an end to these barbaric actions,” he said.