Project Identification

Zolisa Pakade, the project manager responsible for the formalization of the Khayelitsha Initiation Site from the City of Cape Town Department of Social Development, met with the team to discuss the City’s initiative, budget, recent progress, and challenges.  The City of Cape Town has become involved because of growing community pressure for municipal support to help preserve the initiation culture by providing sites where the ritual may be safely practiced.

Three Proposed Initiation Sites in Khayelitsha

Zolisa Pakade informed the team that there are currently three informal initiation sites in Khayelitsha that are being considered by the City of Cape Town’s Social Development Department as locations for formal initiation facilities. In order, from west to east, the sites are located:

1. near the intersections of Spine Road and Mew Way, proximate to Good Hope College
2. corner of Lindela Road and Mew Way, and
3. corner of Nyanda Avenue and Landsdowne Road.(numbering them on map would help.

Given that the City’s budgetary constraints currently allow for the development of one site, the Department had identified the Spine Road/Mew Way site, called the Good Hope College Initiation Site, as the first location to be developed into a formal initiation site.

Major challenges discussed were fencing, topography, and city ownership of desirable land.  The team learned that the City of Cape Town Department of Social Development has created an Initiation Task Team, which has secured an initial sum of R300 000 for project use.  The Department had also requested the transfer of 1,8 hectares of city owned land on the site proximate to Good Hope College for initiation purposes.