Traditional circumcision surgeon Maine Vho-Mashudu Tshikororo said he was shocked to learn about the death of six-year-old Tebogo Sedutla from Setlaleng in Bolobedu, who recently died at a circumcision school in the Greater Letaba area sometime between Monday, 15 June, and Tuesday, 26 June. However, Tshikororo pleaded with parents in the Vhembe region to remain calm, saying that their boys were in safe hands.
For years, the Limpopo Province has been hailed as one of the best in terms of safe circumcisions, but this incident appears to have tarnished its reputation in this regard. What makes the matter so disturbing is the fact that the province's Initiation Schools Act states that boys should be 12 years and above to be admitted to the schools, whereas little Tebogo was only six.
This year, 689 applications for initiation schools were submitted. Out of these applications, 407 schools for men and 212 for women were approved by the province. This has been the only death reported in the province so far since public schools closed for the winter holiday. In Mpumalanga, however, eight other deaths were recorded at two different circumcision schools.
Speaking from his circumcision school at Hamasia outside Vuwani, Tshikororo, who is also the chairperson of the Vhavenda Traditional Circumcision Association, said that, even though he did not know the circumstances surrounding the death of Tebogo, he was deeply saddened by the incident. "It happened in another district where we do not have control over the school. There could be two sides to this case, either being a mistake on the surgeon's part, or the parents not disclosing ailments the boy might have had. I am not saying this is the case in this incident but, either way, it casts a bad name on the culture," he said. "We pass our sincere condolences to the boy's family. To families here in Vhembe, we are maintaining our clean record and we can assure the parents that their boys are in safe hands and that they are very healthy."
Limpopo MEC Basikopo Makamu said that the authorities had dealt with the situation swiftly. The initiation school where Tebogo died was closed and the traditional caregivers and surgeons who were operating there were suspended with immediate effect. "This has, unfortunately, tarnished our target of no deaths during this initiation season," said Makamu.