Africa-Press – South-Africa. NEWS
On May 5, Sibusiso Mofokeng and his younger brother Sanele were taken to an initiation school based in Kromdraai near Witbank.
After spending six days on the mountain, Sibusiso and two other initiates escaped and went straight to Sibusiso’s home to report the abuse that was happening at the school.
In a recorded interview that was conducted before the young man was taken to another initiation school, the 19-year-old divulged why they had decided to escape.
“When we arrived there, we were excited, thinking that everything was going to be easy. But later we realised that we were wrong as we were beaten every day and they treated us like slaves. The school owner used to assign a short man, Pelembe, to beat us every day.
“They said using wet blankets would make us strong as men. When we refused, they would assault us with sticks and other objects.
“We reported the matter to Mr Mokoena, the owner of the school, but he did not take any action.
“Sometimes when we report [the incidents of abuse], he would instruct Pelembe to beat us as well. We were always beaten for no reason.
“The last beating that made us escape was when we refused to eat the vomit of one of the caregivers.”
On the sixth day of initiation, at about midnight when everyone was sleeping, the three boys escaped and went the home of Sibusiso’s grandmother. One of the boys was later captured and taken back to the school.
Sibusiso said he spent two days locked inside the house in fear that initiation school owner Tebogo Mokoena and his crew were going to capture him as well and drag him back to the mountain.
“I asked my family to go and fetch my younger brother from the initiation school.”
His grandmother, Martha Mofokeng, said she thought she was losing her mind when she saw the initiates in her yard in the middle of the night.
Mofokeng said the three young men knocked on her window, crying.
“I was terrified because initiates are not supposed to interact with community members before the initiation process is completed. I opened the door and the young men showed me wounds at the back of their bodies and said they had been beaten with sticks after refusing to eat vomit.”
The 69-year-old Mofokeng said Mokoena and his crew came to her home armed with guns, intimidated her on several occasions and demanded that she release Sibusiso, but she refused.
The irate grandmother reported the matter to the local traditional leader, who assisted in the efforts to compel Mokoena to release Sanele.
She told City Press that she had not yet opened a criminal case with the police because she was waiting for advice from a tribal council.
Another family member, Vusi Makhubela, also expressed his rage over how the boys were treated at the school.
“As a family, we are very angry about what happened. Another thing that makes us angry is the fact that this man was brave enough to come here, to our home, and demand that we hand over the boy to him.”
Makhubela said the young men were recently taken to another initiation school.
Section 29 of the Customary Initiation Act prohibits the assault of initiates as a form of discipline.
It states that:
“If an initiate is guilty of misconduct, the principal must, subject to the provisions of section 28(7), take corrective steps in accordance with the customs of the particular community…
“An initiate may, under no circumstances, be abused or assaulted under the guise of discipline.”
This is not the first time Mokoena has found himself on the wrong side of the law after failing to manage his school properly.
Last year, parents, traditional leaders and the police rescued 17 initiates who had been admitted to the school, allegedly without getting the required consent from their parents.
Traditional leader Inkosi Nsizwa Mahlangu lambasted Mokoena for failing to protect the children and also accused him of not having a permit to operate an initiation school.
“I am the one who assisted the Mofokeng family to go and get their son from Mokoena’s illegal school.
“He released the boy after we involved the police,” Mahlangu said.
The senior member of the Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee, a body appointed by the Mpumalanga cooperative governance and traditional affairs department to ensure the smooth operation of initiation schools, said Mokoena’s school would be closed.
Mokoena confirmed that children had escaped from the school, but denied that they had been abused.
Mokoena insisted:
“According to our tradition, once a child becomes an initiate, he is not supposed to go before completing the process.”
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
