Traditional leaders call for stringent efforts to curb more fatalities as initiation death toll rises to 28

Johnathan Paoli

THE death toll during the summer initiation season in the Eastern Cape has surged to 28, as authorities confirm the loss of lives during the rite of passage, after the death of two initiates and their brother who were shot and killed over the weekend.

The family of the two boys from Butterworth said they were devastated after they were shot and killed, one week after another initiate was gunned down in Gqeberha, forcing some parents to have to take their children out of initiation schools.

The chairperson of the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders, Mpumalanga Gwadiso, has expressed concern over the escalating death toll.

“We have done everything in preparation for the initiation season with our partners. We have gone to areas talking to parents, doing awareness even to be initiated in terms of advising them and making an emphasis that drinking of water is a