Traditional nurses could have to amass 10 years of experience with the circumcision rite before they are legally allowed to actively nurse initiates. A Saturday Dispatch report says this is if draft legislation heading to the Bhisho legislature is passed into law. The proposed law aims to curb the death of initiates across the Eastern Cape and will overtake health regulations governing the rite.
The draft published in the Government Gazette by provincial Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Fikile Xasa will also: Only allow nurses from a family with a reputation for circumcision skills to be part of the rite; make it illegal for nurses to leave the initiates’ side during the first 24 hours; only admit nurses who were people of integrity, and who were highly respected in the community; outlaw anyone who underwent the rite when they were under the age of 18 from becoming a nurse; make traditional surgeons responsible for monitoring nurses and initiates at circumcision schools.
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