Cruel cut leaves injury trail
By Chris ErasmusSunday Sun-Herald 31.12.00
Cape Town: Hospital authorities are bracing themselves for an influx of young men injured during tribal circumcision ceremonies.
Two men died this week and another was in a serious condition after accidently cutting off his own penis during a ritual in Willowvale, in South Africa's Eastern Cape province.
A spokesman for Butterworth Hospital, where the 19-year-old is being treated, said he was making good progress but that he had "lost his penis".
Hospitals throughout the region expect many more people to be admitted following the start of the Xhosa tribe's circumcision season, which traditionally takes place in summer.
The spokesman said the use of unsterilised knives and razor blades led to infections that were often life-threatening.
The circumcisions, which are seen as an integral part of the transition from boy to man, follow a rigorous and lenghty process of isolation and deprivation.
From page 22, Sunday Herald Sun,
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