30 Eastern Cape initiates dead, nearly 300 hospitalised

Thirty initiates from the Eastern Cape have died from circumcision-related injuries, and nearly 300 have been hospitalised, the provincial health department said on Sunday.

In the most recent case of botched circumcisions during the traditional initiation season, ten initiates were rescued from a forest in Mbizana on Sunday, said departmental spokesman Sizwe Kupelo.

“The ten initiates’ private parts are rotten. They are badly damaged. Their condition is scary.” 

He said the initiates were recovering in hospital.

A total of 293 initiates are currently in hospital in the province recovering from dehydration, gangrene, and septic wounds.

Some have lost their genitals.