Police came under heavy criticism during the first day of the third round of public hearings on Koma/Ulwaluko/Lebollo (Initiation Schools) that are currently taking place at Hammanskraal Community Centre, north of Pretoria.

The criticisms against the police were levelled by youths some of whom claimed to have been running the initiation schools from the tender age of 18. They claimed that police are disrespectful of their custom and refuse to obey the rules of the school whenever they are conducting searches on alleged abductions of initiates. “Sometimes they send female police officers to investigate and this is a violation of the custom because women are not allowed in the men’s initiation schools,” said Raymond Mkhonto, a 25 year-old initiation school principal.

He further said that they prefer to work with members of the Tshwane Metro Police, who have undergone the custom and not the SAPS. However, some of the elders attending the hearings were not impressed with Mkhonto and his peers because of their age. “Experience and age is very important in this field,” said an elder and initiation principal  Eric Ringane. He was supported by members of the community who accused some of the schools of turning their children into drug addicts. A representative of the Matebele a Lebelo Tribal Authority said that per 1000 initiates, only one death occur in this area.

Other key issues raised included among others substance abuse in some of the initiation schools and commercialisation of the custom. These issues were also raised during the two previous hearings held in the Eastern Cape and Free State. The hearings are continuing until Wednesday.

They are the result of a tripartite partnership between the Commission for the Promotion & Protection of the Rights of Cultural; Religious & Linguistic Communities (CRL Commission; the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the National House of Traditional Leaders (NHTL). Terms of reference are available in the following websites: www.sahrc.org.za or www.crlcommission.org.za

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CRL COMMISSION; THE SAHRC and THE NHTL ON 18 OCTOBER 2006