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1 July 2022 Year 32 Vol: 42
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Musina hopes to rid itself of Eskom debt in the next year - page 2
ISSN 2409-6784
Tshiozwi residents use sjamboks to “discipline” criminal gangs - page 3
Maniini businessman kills wife before turning gun on himself - page 3
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Stop interfering with our culture By Victor Mukwevho Seasoned traditional circumcision-school surgeon Mmbangiseni Mutavhatsindi, who is also a circumcision-school owner, has called on the government to desist from trying to govern the country’s culture and traditions. This follows an instruc-
tion from the health department that all kids going to traditional schools should first go to hospitals to be checked to see if they are healthy enough to go to the mountains. On Friday morning, Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba told a national radio station that boys should be checked to see if they are not sick before going
to traditional schools. Mutavhatsindi, however, reckons that the message should be directed at parents, not at traditional leaders and owners of traditional schools. Speaking after circumcising two boys at his traditional school in the Tshivhilwi mountains on Sunday morning, Mutavhatsindi said they needed no politicians to intervene in their age-old traditions. “This is our own culture and tradition. We do it the way our ancestors instructed us to. Only our traditional leaders have the right to advise us, not the government. When they invite us to their meetings, they bring people who know nothing about our traditions. In our culture, it is taboo to discuss circumcision matters with women. If they dare and bring nurses and doctors who are not traditionally circumcised here, I will personally circumcise them first before we can listen to them. But if they go through our traditional leaders as tradition demands, we will work together in harmony. What we are not interested in at the moment is politicising our culture,” he said. (Continues on page 2)
Circumcision surgeon Mmangiseni Mutavhatsindi, standing in front of his circumcision school.
The 26-year-old Mulisa Mabada made a very bold statement when he arrived at his graduation ceremony at the Vhembe TVET College recently, dressed in a traditional tsindi (loin cloth) to prove that he is as proudly Venda as it gets. Mabada, from Fefe in Dzimauli, graduated with a diploma in Civil Engineering Studies. (See story on page 2)
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