A hundred and twenty young men and eighteen young women were officially welcomed back home by their parents and locals at Sterkfontein village, Tafelkop outside Grobblersdal. Initiation, for both boys and girls, is an old practice among various groups.
This is regarded as a transition from boyhood to manhood. Among the girls, it is also regarded as a transition to adulthood as well. The initiates are expected to learn values, respect and to uphold their culture or traditions.
Some of the young men from initiation schools say they have learnt a lot including respect. They say they are excited as the process promotes their culture.
“They went so well but as time went on we can see that we are not close to home. I feel good because that is my religion I can’t say maybe I don’t want to go to initiation school. They taught me that us as men we have to work together and respect each other respect our elders,” said one male initiate graduate.
One female initiate graduate said, “I’m very much happy because four weeks is too much without seeing your mom and without seeing your dad. I was always crying but I didn’t want to show the other kids that I’m crying I was hiding my tears.”
Parents of initiates were in jubilant mood as they celebrated the return of their children
“I feel great because today they are coming back home. They are going to see their parents and everything is well and we are happy about it,” said one jubilant parent.
A traditional surgeon at Tafelkop, Isaac Makua, says he received support from various stakeholders to enable him to operate properly.
Makua says, “We had succeeded to run the initiation schools. We didn’t have any death and that was because of support we get from local traditional leaders and COGHSTA and also the Health Department was guiding us.”
The initiation season is expected to end next weekend in the province. The old age tradition wasn’t practiced in the past two years due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
Video| Families welcome back initiates in Limpopo
