Traditional circumcision schools are sacred and very strict when it comes to the way things are done.

Everything is done according to rules, but the opposite became the case with one circumcision school at Madimbo Village in Mutale. At this school, everything seems to be done the wrong way.

Villagers refer to it as one of the worst circumcision schools in the area, if not the country; they see it as a school of shame. Officials from the House of Traditional Leaders who visited the school were left speechless. Instead of following the traditional rules, the school and its operators broke almost all the set rules and traditions.

Because of the confusion at the school, parents had to take their children home and the school was closed unceremoniously. More than 100 initiates were sent home and some were even taken to the local clinic for treatment after the school was closed.

The principal of the school, well-known traditional surgeon Mushaisano Tshirangwana, left the school in the care of a junior. It is also alleged there was no proper care for the initiates as there was no order at the school. The junior surgeon in whose care the school was left allegedly absconded, taking all the money with him and leaving the initiates in the lurch. To add insult to the age-old tradition, the surgeon left the school intact without burning it down, which is contrary to tradition.

The closure of the school has left many questions unanswered. “We are in a state of shock. This has never happened here in my village,” said Chief Julius Nemadimbo, local traditional leader. He said he had an agreement with the principal of the school, but after starting the school, the principal started behaving in an unbecoming manner.

The principal no longer reported what was going on at the school and the chief was shocked to hear that the man had left the initiates on their own. “It brings shame to our tradition and it degrades our culture; people will no longer take us seriously,” he said. He said he was worried that even women would be able to see what was being done there as the school was only partly burnt down.

Traditional leaders from the provincial house of traditional leaders, Munna Ndi Nnyi Men´s Forum and government officials visited the village and the school on a fact-finding mission. The head of the Mutele royal council, Edward Mutele, said the actions of the surgeon had plunged the community into confusion. “Normally when these schools close, we have a traditional ceremony to welcome all the initiates here, but that has not happened this year,” he said.

Chief Vusani Netshimbupfe, chairman of the Limpopo government’s task team on initiation schools, said they had heard of the incident. “When it came to our attention, we quickly dispatched a team to visit the area in order to have first-hand information about the incident. We are still studying the report and we will take the neccsesary steps afterwards,” he said.