Sabelo Radebe was left confused when police raided an illegal initiation school he was part of on a hill in Poortjie, on the West Rand, yesterday.
Police parked their van at the bottom of the hill and pounced on his principal who stood in front of a little tent that was erected in the open.
At the time Radebe, 21, an engineering student at the South West Gauteng College, was still sleeping, naked, along with another 17-year-old initiate.
Not far from where he was sleeping was a fire where their meal was being prepared.
Just a metre away from the fireplace was a small tent where Radebe and the other initiate received their training. Inside the tent were a few blankets, buckets of water and tools.
“I thought the police were just here to see if we have the documentation. I was not aware that the school is being shut down and our principal is being arrested,” Radebe said.
Police closed two schools yesterday, rescuing 11 initiates, including Radebe. The initiates were aged between 16 and 23.
Two men who ran the schools were arrested.
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Sowetan reported yesterday that several boys, the youngest nine, had disappeared in the Vaal and their distraught parents believe it is a result of coercion into illegal initiation schools, which have been mushrooming in the area.
Police are still looking for children who disappeared from their homes.
Last week, police rescued 28 children and a number of adults from illegal initiation schools.
Two of the boys who were rescued yesterday were part of the 28 who were freed from initiation schools last week. The boys told police that after their release, the principals had called their parents and informed them that they would go mad if they did not complete their initiations. Their parents then sent them back to the schools.
Initiation is suspended in Gauteng as municipalities are not ready to host them in line with the Customary Initiation Act 2 of 2021 and due to the pandemic.
The act, which came into effect in September, requires those running schools to be older than 40 and to be accredited by municipalities.
Radebe, from Orange Farm, southern Johannesburg, told Sowetan that he had always wanted to go to an initiation school as it was a practice in his family.
He arrived at the initiation school on Sunday, when Gauteng was experiencing heavy rains. But to him it meant nothing as he was about to fulfil his childhood dream of “becoming a man”.
He was set to spend three to four weeks on the mountain.
“I approached a guy in the township and informed him about my desire to go to an initiation school. He then referred me to the person who runs the school. The guy who runs the school then went to my parents to explain everything to them.
“I do not even know how much was paid for me to be there,” Radebe said.
He said the day begins at about 6am, when they go out to fetch wood. The principal and his assistant then prepare a meal, which is served at 9am.
Two meals are served each day. Yesterday they had cabbage, potatoes and pap. None of the initiates have any contact with the outside world during their stay at the school.
Radebe said they also sang initiation songs and were taught about manhood but he was reluctant to give details. He said they had not been circumcised.
“We are taught about what it means to be a man,” he said.
But after the drama and spending a few minutes in a police van, Radebe now has second thoughts about returning to the mountain.
“I’m really not sure I will come here again,” he said.
