Death toll renews calls for reform of Initiation Act

Traditional leaders are calling for urgent amendments to SA’s Customary Initiation Act, arguing that the legislation has failed to curb deaths and stripped them of the powers needed to deal effectively with illegal initiation schools. The renewed calls come as the national death toll from this year’s winter initiation season has climbed to 45, including 14 in the Eastern Cape — the second-highest provincial toll after Mpumalanga, where 18 initiates have died. The Eastern Cape recorded three more deaths than during the 2025 winter season.

Most of this year’s fatalities occurred in the OR Tambo district, which accounted for seven deaths, followed by Amathole with three, Alfred Nzo with two, and Buffalo City Metro and the Chris Hani district with one each. The commission said the leading causes of death this season included botched circumcisions, severe dehydration and untreated infections. It said fatalities had occurred at both legal and illegal initiation schools.

One of the 14 initiates who died in the Eastern Cape was an underage boy, who was buried at Nomcamba village in Ngqeleni on Saturday. The 15-year-old, who was too young to undergo the ritual and did not undergo the mandatory medical examination, was one of two initiates who died at Mangwaneni village initiation school in Ngqeleni on July 11. Contralesa president Kgoshi Mathupha Mokoena said the rising death toll highlighted weaknesses in existing legislation and called for those responsible to be held accountable.

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“We hope one day someone will listen because this legislation needs some amendment. “The provincial initiation coordinating committees and even the national one … don’t have teeth, they can’t bite,” he said.

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