Hon Speaker, members of the National Assembly, on behalf of Cope, I would like to send our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased initiates.
Xa ndithetha ngabakhwetha abaswelekileyo, andithethi ngaba baseMpumalanga kuphela, ndithetha ngabo bonke abakhwetha abaye basweleka kweli lizwe. Sithi kubazali babo, tutwini, ngxe! Akuhlanga lungehlanga. Siyazi ukuba ukuswelekelwa ngumntwana asiyondlwan'iyanetha; kubuhlungu kwaye ayililo inxeba eliphila ngokukhawuleza.
Kuthe kwakuvakala ukusweleka kwabakhwetha baseMpumalanga, kwavela imibuzo emininzi ekufuneka siyiphendule nje ngabemi boMzantsi Afrika. Ukuba ujonga indlela evele ngayo into yokusweleka kwaba bantwana ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[When I talk about the deceased initiates, I am not talking about only those who are from the Mpumalanga province; I am talking about all those who died in this country. We send our deepest condolences to their parents, and say: May you find solace. We sympathise with you in these trying times. We know that to lose a child is not an easy matter to handle; it is very painful and a pain that takes time to heal.
When we heard of the deaths of the initiates in Mpumalanga, many questions were asked, and as South Africans we need to answer them. If you look at the matter of how these deaths came to light ...]
... there were just a few small headlines, small debates in certain quarters, while they had died!
Ngoku kufike ixesha lokuba sizibuze ukuba: Ingaba sifikelele kwixesha lokuba singakhathali na ngokufa komntu. Isiko lolwaluko lidala kwaye ngendlela elalisenziwa ngayo, zazingenzeki ezi zinto zenzekayo ngoku. Okokuqala, isiko lolwaluko lalifundisa umntu omtsha, oza kungena ebuntwini obukhulu, intlonipho. Yiyo loo nto wayesithi umkhwetha xa ebona umntu ongumama, ambiza ngokuba sisigqwathikazi, wayebabeleka abasicatyana kuba kaloku wayefundiswa ukuba amhloniphe umntu ongumama.
Inkwenkwe eza kwaluka ibixhaswa ngabantu abakhulu, bayibonise izinto efanele ukuzenza nezo engafanelanga kuzenza. Ngoku kwenzeka imihlola, efana nokuba kuthiwe abazali bomntwana abamazi ukuba wolukile. Ngela xesha lokukhula kwethu, ingcibi yayibanye endaweni ethile, kusaziwa ukuba kukho ingcibi enguzibanibani. Kule mihla, elalini enye kukho iingcibi ezilikhulu ngoba yonke into yenzelwa imali. Wofika wonke umntu efuna ukuba yingcibi ngoba akayikhathelelanga le nto aza kuyenza, ufuna nje ukwenza imali.
Eli siko lidala kwaye alikho apha kwezi ntlanga zilapha eMzantsi Afrika kuphela. Likhona nakwiintlanga zakwaSirayeli, amaJuda. Ndifuna ke, phambi kokuba ndihambe kakhulu nexesha lam liphele, ndenze esi siphakamiso. Okokuqala, kwezi ndawo kubonakala ukuba abantu bayasweleka kuzo makhe kuthiwe xhaa ngolwaluko ukuze kujongwe ukuba yintoni na engenziwa, kuba kwezinye iindawo ayikho le nto yokusweleka kwabakhwetha. Yiyo loo nto ndingathi oku kwenzeka kuMzantsi Afrika wonke.
Into yokuthi xhaa ngolwaluko ayintshanga. AmaSirayeli, ngexa ayephuma eJiphutha, endleleni eya eKanana, akhe athi xhaa ngolwaluko. Nathi ndithi makhe sithi xhaa, khe sijonge ukuba kwenzeke ntoni; yintoni esingayilungisayo ukwenzela ukuba eli siko liphinde liqhutywe ngendlela kwezo ndawo lingaqhutywa ngendlela kuzo.
Xa ujonga izinto ezenzekayo, ezifana nendlela ababethwa ngayo emaMpondweni abantu abaya esuthwini, uye uzibuze ukuba leliphi ke ngoku eli siko, elibethisayo xa umntu esiya esuthwini? Alikho, kodwa indlela ababethwa ngayo ingummangaliso. Eli siko libalulekile. Indlela elibaluleke ngayo mna ndicinga ukuba asinakho ukuthi maliyekwe, kodwa masicele urhulumente - mnta' kaBaloyi - akhe athi xha kwezi ndawo. Kunjalo nje mna andivumelani nesithethi esisandul'ukuthetha esithi makubekho ikomishoni; akukho mfuneko yayo. Siyayazi into efanele kwenziwa. Nazi iinkosi zihleli apha, ezifanele ukujonga abantu bazo zibabonise indlela yokuphila. Endaweni yokudlala indima yazo njengeenkosi,kuba yonke into ifuna imali, iinkosi zigcwele apha kule Palamente. Baza kukhokelwa baboniswe ngubani abantu amasiko abo emakhaya? Enkosi, Tata. [Laphela ixesha.] [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[The time has now arrived for us to ask ourselves whether we have reached the point where we do not care much about the death of a person. The circumcision custom is very old, and in the olden days the things that are happening now were not there. First of all, the circumcision custom used to teach a young person who wants to become an adult to show respect. That is why an initiate would run when he saw a woman, because he was taught to respect her and he would call her isigqwathikazi (a woman, in the language of initiates).
A boy who went through circumcision was supported by the elders, who show him the do's and the don'ts. Now, things are happening that will make your jaw drop, like parents who are not aware that their child is in the initiation school. During our time, there was only one circumcision surgeon, ingcibi, in an area, and he was well known. Nowadays, there are a hundred circumcision surgeons in one village because the focus is more monetary now. Everybody wants to be a circumcision surgeon because they don't care about what they are going to do, they just want to make money.
This is an old custom and it's not practised by South African tribes only. It is also done by Israel's tribes, the Jews. Before I digress and my time expires, I want to make this proposal: First of all, in these areas where there are always incidents of initiates losing their lives, circumcision should be suspended for a short period to see what can be done, because this does not happen in other areas. That is why I'm saying this does not happen in South Africa as a whole.
Suspending circumcision for a short period is not new. When the Israelites were leaving Egypt, on their way to Canaan, they stopped circumcision for a short period. We can also do the same, and investigate as to what went wrong. What can we rectify in order for this custom to be practised accordingly again in those areas where they practise it wrongly?
If you look at the things that are happening, like the way they assault the boys who go for circumcision in Pondoland, you end up asking yourself what kind of a custom is this which warrants that a person is assaulted when going for circumcision? There is no such thing, but the way they are assaulted is amazing. This custom is very significant. Because of its importance I think we can't say it must be stopped, but let's make a request to the government - hon Baloyi - to suspend it for a short period in these areas.
I also disagree with the last speaker, who said there should be a commission; there is no need for that. We know what needs to be done. There are chiefs sitting here with us, who are supposed to be monitoring their people and showing them the ways of life. Instead of playing their role as chiefs, because everything requires money, they are all over this Parliament. Who will then lead and monitor the people on how to practise their customs back home? Thank you, sir. [Time expired.] [Applause.]]