3 girls ‘assaulted’ at illegal Klipgat initiation school
One of the three teenage girls who managed to escape from illegal initiation school has been reunited with her mother.
The woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the minor child, has registered a complaint of assault at the Loate police station outside Pretoria on Thursday afternoon.
Earlier, nine boys were rescued from an illegal school along Cemetery Road in Klipgat.
Two of the girls were seen limping to the bathroom while waiting at the Loate police station. They claim they were assaulted by the traditional surgeons.
Two of them say they escaped from the illegal initiation school on Wednesday and hid in the outside toilet of a nearby residence, before the homeowners took them to the Kipgat police station.
The third girl says she escaped on Thursday morning.
The children were allegedly abducted their homes in Etwatwa and Daveyton in Ekurhuleni without their parents’ consent.
The girls, aged between 13 and 16, say were forced to strip naked and learn the “laws of womanhood” at night.
The mother who has been reunited with her daughter says while the children only say they were assaulted, she fears the worst after noticing a concerning odor on the girls.
“One of them says she has her rash underneath. I bought them sanitary pads.”
She says she is anxiously waiting for them to be assessed health professionals.
The visibly troubled mother says the girls refuse to disclose some of the practices they endured.
“I want that school closed. There are children from all cultures there. What kind of traditional school is that? What’s worse; they take children from far off areas and not here in Pretoria.”
According to another parent, she received a call from a woman who demanded a R5500 fine, and another R3500 for her daughter’s return.
She reported her child missing on Monday, after she disappeared from their home on Sunday.
According to the Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, registration for winter initiation school in the province closed in February.
In an earlier statement from the department, it warned there would be legal consequences for those who failed to adhere to approved guidelines.
“Initiation must be held during the relevant provincial school holidays and may not interfere or overlap with official school terms. The opening and closing of the winter and summer Initiation seasons in Gauteng will follow the school’s calendar.
“Initiation schools will be hosted between the 28th of June to the 21st of July 2025. Opening and closing dates for initiation schools attended exclusively by initiates who have already completed secondary education will be hosted between 1st May to 21st July 2025.Any school operating outside the dates prescribed, will face legal consequences.”
At least three initiates from the Sedibeng district died during the summer initiation period.
Transgressions of the Customary Initiation Act, including accepting an initiate under the age of 16 without the necessarily medical report and consent form, can result in a fine or 15 years imprisonment.
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