14 initiates have died in the Eastern Cape during the winter initiation season.
The winter initiation season concluded this weekend in the province.
The latest initiate to die succumbed to injuries after his hut caught fire in Qumbu.
Six initiates died due to illegal circumcision, while other deaths are attributed to dehydration and septicemia.
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) MEC, Zolile Williams, has urged parents and communities to play an active role to save the lives of their children.
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“Parents continue to allow their children to be circumcised by untrained surgeons, now it’s difficult for government to do anything when parents hide the schools and also participate illegally in the process. So, I still make a clarion call to parents to say for the traditional circumcision to succeed, parents need to play their role to ensure that the passage to manhood is driven in a safe environment.”
Stakeholders say it is disheartening to report deaths every season.
The Eastern Cape Chairperson of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa, Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana, believes it is possible to have death free initiation seasons.
“Condolences to the bereaved families. We once more call upon our government to restore powers and functions to the institution of traditional leadership in South Africa and resource them because we believe that we can deal decisively with all these ragamuffins who continue to enrich themselves at the expense of valuable lives of our leaders of tomorrow.”
A lot of people have expressed their views on social media saying Eastern Cape should learn a thing or two from Limpopo, the province sometimes reports no death at all during the initiation season