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Buntu, an 11 year-old initiate, defied his grandpa and went to go get circumcised. Picture: Lubabalo Ngcukana
Buntu, an 11 year-old initiate, defied his grandpa and went to go get circumcised. Picture: Lubabalo Ngcukana

Unlike most boys his age, 11-year-old Buntu* was not at home on his birthday enjoying himself. He was at an illegal initiation school, where he got circumcised two weeks ago.

Buntu was one of 84 boys who were rescued from an illegal initiation school in Zele village, Libode.

The school was run by a notorious traditional surgeon known as Mtshayina Ndoda, who was released from prison in November, where he was incarcerated for illegally circumcising underage boys and for unlawfully running an initiation school.

Ndoda is nicknamed Mtshayina or MaChicken – “the chicken man” – in the village because he asks for fowls from boys as payment before the circumcision.

He remains popular in western Pondoland among the unsuspecting and naive young boys who want to become men.

In April 2007, Mtshayina was arrested after being on the run from police for five months.At the time, he was facing a three-year suspended sentence imposed in 2005 for illegal circumcision.

At least six boys he had circumcised had reportedly died by the time of his arrest.

Mtshayina (64) confirmed in a telephonic interview on Friday that he had been sentenced to five years in prison in November 2011, but got out on parole in November 2014.

The month after his release, he circumcised 26 boys, including his 10-year-old son, Makhovana, he said proudly.

While doing time at the Mthatha Wellington Prison in 2002 for illegal circumcision, Mtshayina boasted that he circumcised seven awaiting-trial prisoners.

Western Pondoland king Ndlovuyezwe Ndamase and the chief responsible for the Ndlovuyezwe Rescue Centre, Nkosi Jongintaba Ndamase, gave City Press permission to interview some of the initiates at Nyandeni Great Place.

The centre was established by the king and his subjects to help young boys rescued from illegal initiation schools. According to the centre, of the 84 youth circumcised by Mtshayina two weeks ago, 53 were underage initiates.

On Friday, City Press spoke to Buntu, the youngest of the initiates at the centre. He said he asked for permission from his grandfather to get circumcised, but was refused because of his age.

But, determined to become a man, Buntu defied his grandfather and joined other boys from the neighbourhood to go and get circumcised by Mtshayina.

The boys allegedly stole chickens from their homes and headed for the mountains in search of Mtshayina.

He said they found the traditional surgeon surrounded by about 50 initiates who were singing. Mtshayina took the fowl and then circumcised him “with a breadknife”.

He then dressed the wound and told him to join the other initiates. It was Buntu’s 11th birthday on June 14, the day he was circumcised.

The law allows boys to undergo the traditional rite of passage into manhood when they are 18 or older.

However, Mtshayina said all the allegations that he was circumcising underage boys without parental consent were lies. Asked about Buntu, he disputed that he had circumcised an 11-year-old boy recently, saying the boy probably lied about his real age.

He confirmed that he circumcised boys a week before he was arrested by police.

He vowed to continue circumcising underage boys because “they were the ideal age”, as long as the parents gave their permission.

“As we speak, I am deep in a forest in Lusikisiki. I circumcised 20 boys today [Friday]. I am expecting more from Bizana. In June 2015, when they heard I came out of prison, I broke records, circumcising more than 300 boys. It’s a lie that boys circumcised by me have died. It’s a smear campaign,” he said.

Another underage boy, who is from Zibungu village in Libode, told City Press that he chose to get the snip because the older boys were teasing him.

“They don’t allow us to use the same toilets with them at school because they are men and we are boys. They laugh at us and say we smell like boys. I also needed to be a man,” he said.

Ndamase said parents did not want to be witnesses or open cases against the culprits.

“Not a single parent I know has come forward to say Mtshayina circumcised their boy. Nor have any complained if the child died or lost his manhood as a result. Parents are scared and that makes it difficult to pin anything on Mtshayina,” the king complained.

Miraculously, Mtshayina was acquitted at Libode Magistrates’ Court last week due to a lack of evidence.

Mthatha Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said that it was the prosecution and the court that decided Mtshayina should be released “due to lack of evidence”.

“As police, we can only do so much,” he said.

Mamkeli Ngam, provincial cooperative governance and traditional affairs spokesperson, said crime intelligence was needed to understand why young boys were prepared to risk their lives to be circumcised by people like Mtshayina, and why parents were so scared to talk about it.

He said Mtshayina had circumcised 83 boys in the previous initiation season in December. Ngam could not confirm how many boys circumcised by Mtshayina had died.

He said eight boys had died in the current winter initiation season, mostly under the Nyandeni and Mhlontlo local municipalities, which were regarded as hot spots.

*Not his real name

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