Circumcision under spotlight

2004-09-27 10:34

Cape Town - The challenges facing traditional circumcision are to be debated at a three-day conference that began in East London on Monday morning.

It is being attended by traditional leaders from across the Eastern Cape and other provinces, by traditional healers and surgeons, academics, and representatives of local government and the provincial departments of health and traditional affairs.

"The conference was called because there are botched circumcisions," said one of the organisers, Prince Langa Mavuso.

"Traditional leaders decided that we should not keep quiet when people are dying."

He said the conference would be looking for sustainable solutions to the challenges facing the practice.

Mavuso said women had also been invited to the conference "because they've got a role as far as initiation is concerned. Women are the ones who build the initiation lodge with grass, and also they have a role in cooking for the child."

- SAPA