Off the wire
• (Sports Focus) Seedorf joins Chinese club Shenzhen Kaisa (updated with quotes)  • Roundup: Life back to normal in Zimbabwe day after massive strike  • China-Nepal JV airline to start daily Kathmandu-Doha flight  • SA's economic growth projected to be 0.1 percent this year: IMF  • Roundup: British media derides Blair over Chilcot report  • Cardiac surgery on infants leads to aged immune systems: Swedish study  • China court finds against Greek company in ship rescue fee case  • UN increases food aid appeal for Zimbabwe  • China holds space military exhibition  • China readies next-gen radio heliograph for solar activities monitoring  
You are here: 　 Home

Botched circumcision claims 22 lives in S. Africa

Xinhua, July 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Africa has lost 22 lives as a result of botched circumcision since the beginning of the winter initiation season in June, according to official figures released on Thursday.

Of the victims, about 16 initiates died in the Eastern Cape Province, two died in Limpopo, one in the North West, two in Mpumalanga, and one in Gauteng, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (DCGTA) said.

Most of the fatalities resulted from pneumonia, dehydration and assault, health officials said.

The Eastern Cape Province "remains our main concern", Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Obed Bapela said during a visit to the province.

"We are saddened by the senseless increase of young men who lose their precious lives while undergoing this important cultural practice," he said.

Syndicates are blamed for the growing number of deaths of initiates despite an intensified crackdown.

"We are saddened that young men still continue to die, even with increased efforts by government to sensitise communities about the need to ensure that before they release their children to attend initiation schools, all key processes are followed as outlined by the department,"the DCGTA said.

Parliament will pass the law to criminalize operations of illegal initiation schools before the end of the year and this will carry a minimum sentence of not more than five years, according to the DCGTA.

"This law will send a strong message and ensure that these cruel heartless criminals and syndicates to go to jail for a long time," said the department.

The government has vowed to take tougher actions against botched circumcisions which kill many youths every year.

Circumcision is a major and sacred stage in the African culture which sees the transition from child to adulthood. According to the tradition, young males have to be circumcised as the passage to adulthood.

In 2015, during winter and summer Initiation seasons, approximately 101 initiates lost their lives (most in the Eastern Cape) and in the last 10 years there has been an estimated 1,000 penile amputations. Enditem