Eastern Province Herald (Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa), Pages 1-2. Tuesday, 23 July 1996.
Eastern Province Herald (Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa), Pages 1-2. Tuesday, 23 July 1996.
UMTATA - Villagers in the Lusikisiki area are still hunting for the man held responsible for last week's botched circumcisions, after a fifth Xhosa initiate, 16-year-old Phumsile Khala, died in hospital yesterday.
Pondoland police told Ecna that the man was believed to be using old and unclean instruments for circumcisions.
Four other youths died in as many days last week of septic wounds and dehydration after traditional circumcision rituals in Pondoland a fortnight ago.
At least 53 others have been sent to hospital.
Hospitals in Pondoland reported yesterday that most of the young men intheir care were recovering.
However, there were a few extreme cases in which doctors were considering amputating septic penises.
Sapa reports that at Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, where traditional leaders have rejected an application to run a modern circumcision school, an ANC member said:
I myself went to circumcision school ten years ago and while I believe the tradition is a good one, conditions at the schools really need to be cleaned up.
COMMENT: Pondoland - The remote north-east corner of the Eastern Cape Province, noted for its mountainous, rugged, natural beauty and the relative traditional ways of many of its inhabitants. The amaMpondo and the amaMpondimise (ama-
= isiXhosa prefix denoting group
) are isiXhosa speakers. It formed part of the former South African homeland
of the Transkei. Lusikisiki is a charming town in the area. The name is onomatopeaic and refers to the sound the wind makes in the reeds.
Mpumalanga - Literally Sunrise direction
or East
, is like the Eastern Cape one of the newly created provinces of post-apartheid South Africa. It is made up of the old eastern Transvaal and some homelands
. The latter should indicate that there are many people still involved in traditional lifestyles. Its inhabitants will be Nguni (siSwati, Shangaan and maybe some isiZulu speakers) as well as Northern Sotho speakers. It is noted for lush vegetation and the large Kruger National Park. It is a popular tourist destination and is very beautiful. It has a very dynamic and outspoken (and sometimes controversial) premier, Mr Phosa.
ANC - African National Congress, former liberation group and at present the majority political party in SA.
Ecna - Eastern Cape News Agency
Sapa - the South African Press Association
What should be read between the lines in the reference to Mpumalanga is the present struggle between traditionalists and the newly created and empowered Black middle class in South Africa, a considerable number who have returned from exile, often from sophisticated and affluent Western societies. [Anonymous]
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