A longstanding manhood ritual reveals some sobering, unintended truths in the South African drama “The Wound” from director John Trengove. Issues of sexuality, generational divide, class and ...

Last weekend, this newspaper carried a harrowing story about the continuing tragedy of adolescents who are ­victims of botched circumcisions. We wish it had given us insights into why most of these ...

Public conversations on the tradition of ulwaluko are usually centred on male oriented norms for circumcision. It israre to hear the conversation geared towards what ulwaluko actually means to black ...

The controversial summer Ulwaluko rite, carried out by the Xhosa people in South Africa, has concluded for 2025, leaving 39 boys dead. The traditional ceremony, in which initiates are circumcised, ...

I recently spent two weeks in the Eastern Cape, my father’s home, to mark the end of my mother’s mourning period. In my culture, this period signifies deep respect for the dead and the family at large ...

Every year young boys die in the process of “becoming men”, ulwaluko. Recently Mpumalanga made news when 27 boys died at an initiation camp. When such stories are reported I’m reminded of the imigidi ...

In a heartwarming gesture, St Andrew’s College in Makhanda recently shared a viral Facebook post welcoming back four of their grade 11 pupils who successfully underwent the Xhosa rite of passage ...

Unfortunately, the process can be problematic. More than 1,000 initiates have died in the province between 1995 and 2017. Complications from botched circumcision procedures — including penile ...

Members of the Somagwaza Institute have voiced their concerns about the impact of the ongoing land grabs on initiation. Since the start of the lockdown, the province has seen unprecedented levels of ...

A longstanding manhood ritual reveals some sobering, unintended truths in the South African drama “The Wound” from director John Trengove. Issues of sexuality, generational divide, class and ...