By Doreen Mokgolo
Teenagers in Ekurhuleni who have undergone the passage to manhood by getting circumcised have been working to convince their peers to be enrolled at initiation schools since the beginning of the winter initiations.
A taxi from Tshwane collects interested young men at least twice a week to take them to the initiation schools in Jukulyn in Soshanguve, Klipgat in Winterveldt, and Stinkwater in Hammanskraal without their parent’s knowledge.
A mentally impaired 15-year-old from Daveyton was among a group of teenagers who were rescued from an initiation school recently.
His guardian, Rita Segogoba, told Scrolla.Africa that when she returned from work on 18 May, she was told that her son was missing.
“We searched everywhere for him until one of the boys in the area told us that he had been taken with other boys by men in a taxi who work at initiation schools,” she said.
“The following day, two boys came to give us a consent form to sign telling us that he was admitted to an initiation school in Klipgat, but they refused to give us the exact location.
“They told us that we had to pay R4,000 and gave us a list of things we needed to buy for him. We refused to sign the letter and decided to go to the police.”
Segogoba’s pensioner husband said they and the police searched for him at the schools in Klipgat, but didn’t find him.
Two weeks later they received a call from a school principal in Soshanguve, Jukulyn, informing them that their son was at the school.
The teenager and his friend tried to run away from the school, but he was caught and sent back, while the friend managed to find his way to a nearby home and was rushed to a local medical facility.
“As his guardian, I don’t have the R4,000 they demanded. Had they come to me, they would have known that he is on chronic medication,” Segogoba said.
Gauteng SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masonto said police are investigating the matter but have not made any arrests yet.
“We are calling on parents to report all cases to the police and not to take the law into their own hands,” he said.
Pictured above: Initiation school kidnappers demanded R4,000 from Rita Segogoba.
Image source: Supplied
