Table Mountain deemed unsuitable for initiation

An initiate in his regalia

An initiate in his regalia

Published Jul 3, 2015

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Siyavuya Mzantsi

THE Table Mountain National park will investigate the ANC Youth League’s (Ancyl) call to make a portion of the mountain’s land available to initiation schools, to see if the idea is viable.

The Youth League said Table Mountain was a national heritage site and was suitable to host initiates and allow them the necessary “privacy as the inherent requirement for the initiates”.

SANParks spokesperson Merle Collins said: “This is new for us. Table Mountain National Park never had a request like this before and we will definitely investigate (the) feasibility.” She added that SANParks had a cultural heritage responsibility.

“It is difficult to answer yes or no at this stage.”

Illegal occupation of land in Philippi East along Sheffield Road forced initiates off land they were using for the rite during last year’s season, between June and July.

Xhosa traditional leaders said initiates were being “exposed” to the public as a result.

Ancyl spokesperson Siyabulela Tom said Table Mountain had enough space to accommodate initiates from all over the province.

“In the Western Cape this important part of the tradition is not properly honoured because of a space shortage,” Tom said. However Xhosa kings and traditional leaders slammed the Ancyl ’s call, saying Table Mountain was not suitable for initiates as it was surrounded by people of other cultures.

Nkosi Mali Hoza, of the AmaXesibe, said despite the shortage of land, Table Mountain was not seen as an option. He was echoed by Nkosi Kwenzekile “Zanoxolo” Ngcuka, who deemed it impractical as the mountain range would be too far from the initiates’ communities.

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