With this year’s summer initiation season fast approaching, the Nyanga Initiation Forum is pulling out all the stops to ensure a flawless process.
On Saturday 17 September, the forum brought parents whose children will embark on a journey to manhood this summer under one roof.
The public meeting was held at Nyanga stadium and parents, came out in large numbers. In Nyanga alone, a total of 125 boys will undergo the initiation process.
Ward 37 councillor Sandile Martin joined the meeting which was also attended by doctors who gave professional advice on the dos and don’ts, as well as the importance of having a check-up before going on this journey.
The meeting also offered single parents, mainly women, an opportunity to get first-hand information about how to help their sons during the initiation period.
Forum chair Mark Khoabane said: “We needed to emphasises the importance of vaccination of these boys and necessary check ups before embarking on this initiation journey. It is important to see these boys ready so that they may be able to withstand any challenges they may face going forward,” he said.
“At the meeting we also made clear to parents that there was no alcohol allowed at initiation schools. As the forum we will be there monitoring things from (Tuesday) 1 November until (Monday) 30 January to ensure everything goes smoothly,” said Khoabane.
A parent, Mkhululi Ngcozana, praised the meeting for catering for women who head their households.
“The meeting was very important as it also prepared parents in ensuring they know what is needed and not needed at initiation school. Parents from this area now know how much they will have to pay for ingcibi (surgeon) or ikhankatha and this eliminates any chances of them being short-changed in the process,” said Ngcozana.
He said parents were also informed about the consent form which is signed by the child, the parents and ingcibi acknowledging what was to unfold.