{"id":1284,"date":"2020-04-02T21:32:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T21:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/?p=1284"},"modified":"2020-07-10T21:35:10","modified_gmt":"2020-07-10T21:35:10","slug":"cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/","title":{"rendered":"COGTA scraps initiation school this season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>DELMAS <\/strong>&#8211; The Southern Ndebele people in the town of Delmas including other indigenous groups in this area who value traditional education, especially the rite of passage as part of traditional community values has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is after the Mpumalanga MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (GOGTA), Mandla Msibi, announced the cancellation of all initiation schools in the province. This is an effort to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Initiation season which is due to start anytime from the end of April has the potential to spread the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Initiation schools in Delmas serve to contribute to the disciplining, transference of cultural norms and values, the observation of tradition, and affirmation of cultural identity, of the child. The process of being initiated symbolizes \u2018rebirth\u2019 and those who survive are considered to have new identities. The Southern Ndebele people in Delmas believe that the preparation phase of the initiates during \u2018thresholding and restoration\u2019, teaches them the responsibilities, practical aspects and maintenance of one\u2019s physical, social and spiritual survival, not only for them but also of the community as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The decades old cultural practice of initiation has been affected greatly by COVID-19, the question remains whether public health facilities in the town of Delmas will continue to offer medical male circumcision during this time. In 2003, a Bill was approved and enacted by Parliament to monitor the registration and control of these cultural initiation schools. In some areas medical practitioners have since been incorporated into the rite as part of the consultation team for the circumcision process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MEC Mandla Msibi urged traditional leadership across the country to ensure that no initiation practices take place in their area of jurisdiction. The decision for suspension will contribute greatly to flattening the curve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his statement, Msibi said that, \u201cin accordance with the president\u2019s directive to prohibit gathering, the province of Mpumalanga will not have initiation schools until further notice. We understand some parents and community members has prepared that their children go to initiation schools this time of the year, however, we have spoken to our traditional leaders through the Ingoma forum that there should be no such a culture practice until further notice as directed by the president\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added that, \u201cwe understand that initiations schools or such gatherings have a potential to spread coronavirus which is totally something the county and the province don\u2019t need\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Attempts to get a comment from the local Health Department and Traditional Council were unsuccessful. The Chairperson of the Mpumalanga House of Traditional Leaders, INkosi Sandile Ngomane, also reiterated that a directive had already been sent to traditional councils and that anyone caught breaking the law will be prosecuted. Engagements by the COGTA will be made to ensure compliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DELMAS &#8211; The Southern Ndebele people in the town of Delmas including other indigenous groups in this area who value traditional education, especially the rite of passage as part of traditional community values has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is after the Mpumalanga MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (GOGTA), Mandla Msibi,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tie-health","category-tie-news-style"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>COGTA scraps initiation school this season - Highveld Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COGTA scraps initiation school this season - Highveld Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DELMAS &#8211; The Southern Ndebele people in the town of Delmas including other indigenous groups in this area who value traditional education, especially the rite of passage as part of traditional community values has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is after the Mpumalanga MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (GOGTA), Mandla Msibi,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Highveld Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-02T21:32:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-10T21:35:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ndebele-initiation.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"387\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"180\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tulani Ngwenya\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tulani Ngwenya\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tulani Ngwenya\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#\/schema\/person\/5b0a8961c7786078521cd73913bc717a\"},\"headline\":\"COGTA scraps initiation school this season\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-02T21:32:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-10T21:35:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/\"},\"wordCount\":469,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ndebele-initiation.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Health\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/\",\"name\":\"COGTA scraps initiation school this season - Highveld Chronicle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ndebele-initiation.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-02T21:32:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-10T21:35:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ndebele-initiation.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ndebele-initiation.png\",\"width\":387,\"height\":180},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"COGTA scraps initiation school this season\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/\",\"name\":\"Highveld Chronicle\",\"description\":\"First with the news, First with the people\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Highveld Chronicle\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/cropped-HighVeldLogo.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/cropped-HighVeldLogo.jpeg\",\"width\":507,\"height\":134,\"caption\":\"Highveld Chronicle\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#\/schema\/person\/5b0a8961c7786078521cd73913bc717a\",\"name\":\"Tulani Ngwenya\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e3c5c3e744a74679588daef4349865936a0395907e8e993e88e335ecb52329d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e3c5c3e744a74679588daef4349865936a0395907e8e993e88e335ecb52329d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tulani Ngwenya\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/author\/tulanin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"COGTA scraps initiation school this season - Highveld Chronicle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"COGTA scraps initiation school this season - Highveld Chronicle","og_description":"DELMAS &#8211; The Southern Ndebele people in the town of Delmas including other indigenous groups in this area who value traditional education, especially the rite of passage as part of traditional community values has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is after the Mpumalanga MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (GOGTA), Mandla Msibi,...","og_url":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/","og_site_name":"Highveld Chronicle","article_published_time":"2020-04-02T21:32:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-10T21:35:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":387,"height":180,"url":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ndebele-initiation.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Tulani Ngwenya","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tulani Ngwenya","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/"},"author":{"name":"Tulani Ngwenya","@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#\/schema\/person\/5b0a8961c7786078521cd73913bc717a"},"headline":"COGTA scraps initiation school this season","datePublished":"2020-04-02T21:32:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-10T21:35:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/"},"wordCount":469,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ndebele-initiation.png","articleSection":["Health","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/","url":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/","name":"COGTA scraps initiation school this season - Highveld Chronicle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ndebele-initiation.png","datePublished":"2020-04-02T21:32:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-10T21:35:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ndebele-initiation.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ndebele-initiation.png","width":387,"height":180},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/cogta-scraps-initiation-school-this-season\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"COGTA scraps initiation school this season"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/","name":"Highveld Chronicle","description":"First with the news, First with the people","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#organization","name":"Highveld Chronicle","url":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/cropped-HighVeldLogo.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/cropped-HighVeldLogo.jpeg","width":507,"height":134,"caption":"Highveld Chronicle"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#\/schema\/person\/5b0a8961c7786078521cd73913bc717a","name":"Tulani Ngwenya","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e3c5c3e744a74679588daef4349865936a0395907e8e993e88e335ecb52329d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e3c5c3e744a74679588daef4349865936a0395907e8e993e88e335ecb52329d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tulani Ngwenya"},"url":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/author\/tulanin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1286,"href":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284\/revisions\/1286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}