Cape town: In preparation for the summer initiation season, the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS), has equipped cultural practitioners with the necessary skills and resources to ensure a safe and dignified rite of passage. The 2025 summer initiation season commenced on Saturday, 1 November 2025, and will run until 31 January 2026, marking the beginning of a significant cultural period for initiates, their families, and communities.
According to South African Government News Agency, a total of 680 cultural practitioners, including traditional surgeons, traditional caregivers, and administrators, have participated in capacity-building training. The training focused on key areas, including fire and environmental management, health and hygiene, specialised training for traditional surgeons, and organisational development.
In collaboration with the Initiation Forums, DCAS has also announced the revised Initiation Minimum Standards to reinforce safety and accountability. ‘These standards now require Initiation Forums to be registered under relevant legislation as responsible community organisations, ensuring both the safety of initiates and compliance by cultural practitioners.’
Meanwhile, the DCAS is also actively distributing personal protective equipment (PPE), fire equipment, and water tanks to initiation schools across the province. From this summer season, the department said a digital initiation management system approved by the Western Cape Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee (WCPICC) will be utilised. This system is designed to improve the efficiency of initiation applications and represents a significant step forward in enhancing the protection and well-being of initiates.
‘The Western Cape Government is committed to supporting initiatives in our province to ensure that all initiates can safely undergo this important and sacred practice. We wish all initiates well for the upcoming season, and we will continue working closely with all stakeholders to protect the welfare and dignity of all initiates,’ said the Western Cape MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport, Ricardo Mackenzie.
The Head of Department, Guy Redman, stated that ensuring a safe and meaningful rite of passage depends on strong collaboration among all stakeholders involved. This includes the initiates, their families, cultural practitioners, healthcare professionals, Initiation Forums, traditional leaders, municipalities, and the Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee. ‘Each of them plays a crucial role, and by working together, we can uphold this tradition with the utmost care and respect for all,’ Redman added.
The Chairperson of the WCPICC, Nkosi Ntsika Minenkulu Joyi, said that they are working hard as a collective with all stakeholders to ensure compliance with the Customary Initiation Act (Act 2 of 2021) across the province. ‘We wish all initiates well as they undertake this important journey, and we will continue providing support to ensure that initiations are practised safely in the Western Cape,’ Joyi said.