Eleven initiates crammed into an illegal initiation school located at the bottom of a gorge were yesterday rescued by authorities as the Eastern Cape death toll rose to six.
One of the initiates, suffering from dehydration, needed emergency medical attention.
The conditions at the school were so dire that co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa could not hide his shock.
The MEC this week led the province’s initiation monitoring and rescue teams as they visited initiation schools in the Mpondoland area.
The MEC and his team were shaken to discover the appalling conditions at a school in Lurholweni village near Mbizana on Monday.
He said they had struggled to access the school, which was housing the 11 initiates aged from 15 to 17.
“The initiates were crammed in the small lodge and all of them looked dehydrated while one looked the worst,” said Xasa.
“Something could have happened to him if we were not down there on time.”
Despite its notoriety regarding initiate deaths, the Mpondoland region has enjoyed a trouble-free season so far. But a visibly angry Xasa described what he saw in Lurholweni village as “totally” unacceptable.
“The situation was bad,” he said.
While talking to the Daily Dispatch on a cellphone from the scene, Xasa was called to assist the initiates.
“He is getting weaker and weaker and men are carrying him on their shoulders and struggling to manoeuvre their way up the ravine,” he told the Dispatch.
“I just pray that he does not die.”
The MEC said the youngest initiate was just 15.
The law regulating initiation states that boys should be 18 and above.
He said when they arrived at the illegal initiation school, they were met by two young men claiming to be traditional nurses attending to the initiates but neither had authorisation documents allowing them to tend to the initiates.
The initiates also did not have documents permitting them to get circumcised.
The two bogus traditional nurses have since been arrested and charged with illegal circumcision and kidnapping while police were looking for the traditional surgeon who circumcised the initiates unlawfully, said Xasa.
Department spokesman Mamnkeli Ngam yesterday said the initiation death toll had reached six since the start of the season in November.
Ngam could not immediately say what the causes of death were. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
11 initiates crammed into tiny lodge
One of the initiates, suffering from dehydration, needed emergency medical attention.
The conditions at the school were so dire that co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa could not hide his shock.
The MEC this week led the province’s initiation monitoring and rescue teams as they visited initiation schools in the Mpondoland area.
The MEC and his team were shaken to discover the appalling conditions at a school in Lurholweni village near Mbizana on Monday.
He said they had struggled to access the school, which was housing the 11 initiates aged from 15 to 17.
“The initiates were crammed in the small lodge and all of them looked dehydrated while one looked the worst,” said Xasa.
“Something could have happened to him if we were not down there on time.”
Despite its notoriety regarding initiate deaths, the Mpondoland region has enjoyed a trouble-free season so far. But a visibly angry Xasa described what he saw in Lurholweni village as “totally” unacceptable.
“The situation was bad,” he said.
While talking to the Daily Dispatch on a cellphone from the scene, Xasa was called to assist the initiates.
“He is getting weaker and weaker and men are carrying him on their shoulders and struggling to manoeuvre their way up the ravine,” he told the Dispatch.
“I just pray that he does not die.”
The MEC said the youngest initiate was just 15.
The law regulating initiation states that boys should be 18 and above.
He said when they arrived at the illegal initiation school, they were met by two young men claiming to be traditional nurses attending to the initiates but neither had authorisation documents allowing them to tend to the initiates.
The initiates also did not have documents permitting them to get circumcised.
The two bogus traditional nurses have since been arrested and charged with illegal circumcision and kidnapping while police were looking for the traditional surgeon who circumcised the initiates unlawfully, said Xasa.
Department spokesman Mamnkeli Ngam yesterday said the initiation death toll had reached six since the start of the season in November.
Ngam could not immediately say what the causes of death were. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
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