During the last SANAC Plenary meeting on 8 October in Phokeng, Rustenburg, deputy president and chairperson of SANAC, Kgalema Motlanthe, spoke out strongly against the continued deaths of boys and young men as a result of botched circumcisions at traditional initiation schools. “It is painful that in this year we have lost 64 young men who had gone to initiation schools.”
Every year, it is almost expected – and as sure as rain it comes to pass – that boys and young men die from this rite of passage that takes place annually, mostly during the winter season.
“All of this happened because we’ve listened to explanations and excuses that in the initiation schools, surgery is performed by people who do so for commercial purposes and who use instruments that are not sterilised,” said Motlanthe.
He suggested that medical male circumcision could be the solution to stop these deaths. “It is important to respond to this loss of life by ensuring that medical male circumcision across the country, wherever it happens – be it in the traditional setting or initiation schools – the surgery part be performed by people trained to use the latest clamp approved by the WHO. That clamp is part of our culture. We must tell the people that we will not interfere with the culture.
“Culture is not static,” he continued. “If you look at the range of instruments over time … those instruments have also not been static. They have been evolving over time. If today, our people use blades, it should be possible for them to understand that a blade is replaced by the latest clamp approved by the WHO. It is not replacing culture. I’m saying this because through the work done by SANAC, it makes it possible to engage with our traditional leaders. It requires direct intervention.”
Motlanthe underlined the importance of medical male circumcision as a tool to prevent HIV infection in men. “Medical male circumcision adds to our arsenal of interventions aimed at preventing new infections. Unless we win the battle against new infections, we will forever be challenged by the prevalence of new infections.”