Contralesa has given the green light for the traditional right of passage for boys to resume in December.
FILE: A Xhosa initiate stands during a traditional initiation process in a rural hut on 11 July 2017 in the Coffee Bay area in Umtata, South Africa. Picture: AFP
JOHANNESBURG – The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa in Gauteng said that it would closely monitor COVID-19 health and safety protocols when initiation schools reopened this December.
Contralesa has given the green light for the traditional right of passage for boys to resume in December.
They were barred from operating due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initiation schools are usually held in winter but this year, it was temporarily cancelled after President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster in March to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Now they have been given the go-ahead to resume after the country moved to level one of the lockdown.
Contralesa chairperson in Gauteng, Prince Manene Tabane, said that this would happen in line with safety and health protocols.
“The lockdown regulations will be highly observed.”
He said that traditional leaders would work around the clock to get rid of bogus initiation schools.