A mass circumcision ceremony has left 39 boys de@d and dozens more mutilated after botched procedures during tribal 'initiation' in South Africa. The Minister for the Department of Governance & Traditional Affairs had set a target of zero deaths for 2025 in registered schools, while police shut down illegal schools. According to a tribal chief, Sipho Mahlangu, Deputy Chair of the National House of Traditional Leaders, 80% of initiates who d!e or mutilated are the victims of the illegal schools. The Government has pledged to cut the number of illegal schools preying on teenagers in half from 429 by 2029. Most die due to severe dehydration after being forced not to drink to prevent urination after circumcision. The ceremony, known as Ulwaluko, is typically carried out by Xhosa people and marks the transition from boyho0d to manho0d.Boys generally undergo the centuries-old ritual between the ages of 16 and 26. Gruesome complications in 2024 led to 11 penis amputations after unskilled traditional 'surgeons' used old spears and razor blades to perform the eye-watering rituals.
0 Comments