Introduction

Recently there has been wide coverage in South African media on the issue of the deaths of some initiates undergoing rites to manhood. What is surprising, is the collective paralysis and blame game that the various parties and institutions appear to be playing. No one seems to want to accept the moral responsibility for these tragic events. Their explanations leave more smoke than light. An anti-culture brigade appears to be calling for an outright ban on this cultural practice. Those who are familiar with the Pondoland deaths of initiates would know that that is not the answer. Taking the initiates out of the “koma”, as the Member of the Executive Committee (MEC) from Limpopo recently pointed out, will not necessarily decrease the vulnerability of the initiates.

This tragedy reflects a breakdown in the value chain of delivering safe, sanitary and successful initiation schools. Admittedly, in some instances there has been a breakdown of traditional structures of control which has to be addressed within the country's constitutional framework. The discussion should raise questions about how we put in place processes that encompass a comprehensive, holistic and multisectoral response, to adequately address the problem of transforming initiation schools.

The aim of this chapter is to provide a historical record of how African communities applied initiation cultural practices to adulthood during apartheid, and the transformation of the cultural practice toward nation-building, since the 1994 democratic dispensation, in the Western Cape.

Historical and sociocultural context of initiation rites in the Western Cape

During the colonial and apartheid eras, initiation rituals were amongst the cultural strategies that promoted political integration against apartheid laws—a practice that has characterised South Africa's liberation history. As late President Mandela noted, the “bhoma” was not only a physical structure meant to house initiates during the liminal stage of their rite of passage, but also a vehicle for social solidarity and political participation in the affairs of the community and the nation at large. In every town and village, land was set aside in recognition of the institution's role in preparing young people for such responsibility as part of nation-building (Mandela, 1994).