‘Secrets’ that kill: Crisis, custodianship and responsibility in ritual male circumcision in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

This paper analyses a tension between traditional leaders and the post-apartheid government in South Africa, concerning the crisis in ritual male circumcision. Over the last two decades, following ritual male circumcision, thousands of youth have been admitted to hospitals, hundreds have undergone p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Social science & medicine (1982) Vol. 70; no. 5; pp. 729 - 735
Main Author:	Kepe, Thembela
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2010 Elsevier Pergamon Press Inc
Series:	Social Science & Medicine
Subjects:	Adolescent Amputation, Traumatic - etiology Apartheid Biological and medical sciences Ceremonial Behavior Circumcision Circumcision, Male - adverse effects Circumcision, Male - legislation & jurisprudence Circumcision, Male - mortality Communications Media Crises Cultural rights Culture Dissent and Disputes Female Government Government Regulation Health Health crisis Health policy Hospitals Human Rights Humans Interviews as Topic Leadership Legislation Male Male ritual circumcision Males Media Medical sciences Miscellaneous Patient Admission - statistics & numerical data Penis - injuries Political crises Political leadership Post-apartheid era Public health Public health. Hygiene Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine Responsibility Rites & ceremonies Rituals Secrets Social change South Africa South Africa - epidemiology South Africa Traditional leaders Health crisis Male ritual circumcision Media State Government Tradition Traditional leaders Traditions Eastern Cape South Africa East Africa Africa Cape Province South Africa Health crisis Media South Africa Male ritual circumcision Traditional leaders Human Leadership Secretion Male Responsibility Rite Crisis Social medicine Mass media Secrecy Circumcision Public health
ISSN:	0277-9536, 1873-5347, 1873-5347
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	This paper analyses a tension between traditional leaders and the post-apartheid government in South Africa, concerning the crisis in ritual male circumcision. Over the last two decades, following ritual male circumcision, thousands of youth have been admitted to hospitals, hundreds have undergone penile amputations and hundreds have died. Following the government's intervention through legislation and other health measures, traditional leaders allege that this is a violation of cultural rights enshrined in the Constitution. Drawing on newspaper and journal articles, books, policy documents, and legislation, as well as informal interviews with initiates and their parents and field observations in the Eastern Cape Province (2002–2009), this paper explores the validity of the traditional leaders' challenge, arguing that the crisis in the ritual should be seen in a broader context than the tension between traditional leaders and the state. Finally, the paper argues the tension between traditional leaders and government, and the sensational reporting of this by the media, unfortunately takes away focus from the health crisis in the ritual.
Bibliography:	SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 14 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2
ISSN:	0277-9536 1873-5347 1873-5347
DOI:	10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.11.016