Africa-Press – South-Africa. Three initiates died after their initiation hut burnt down in Mdantsane on Tuesday.
Eastern Cape Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs spokesperson Mamkeli Ngam confirmed the deaths, saying that department officials had been to the initiation school and were still collecting information to confirm “exactly what happened”.
Ngam said two of the initiates were rushed to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital with severe burns, but they succumbed to their injuries.
The third appears to have died at the scene of the fire.
The initiates were 17 years old and had undergone the rite of passage on Friday.
Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders chair Nkosi Mpumalanga Gwadiso said it appears that strong winds blew flames on to the grass hut, which caused it to catch fire shortly after 00:00.
He said the three were the first deaths of the initiation season.
Gwadiso added: “We are cautioning people to be vigilant. It’s winter and the weather can turn without expectation. Be careful about the fire inside the hut at night. It’s a normal thing to have a fire in the hut, but we need to be careful and prevent disaster.”
Gwadiso said one of the initiates appears to have been at the camp illegally, adding that police and the House of Traditional Leaders would be investigating the circumstances around his initiation.
Ngam said it was not yet clear whether anyone had been arrested.
Eastern Cape police had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
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