Botched circumcisions kill 33 boys in South Africa

Jul 5, 2009, 14:56 GMT

Johannesburg - Thirty-three South African boys have died following botched circumcisions in the country's Eastern Cape province, radio reports said Sunday.

For many boys in South Africa, circumcision marks the transition to manhood.

The group procedure is usually carried out in winter. Each year brings its share of fatalities, which are usually blamed on the use of blunt, unsterilized instruments.

Most of the deaths in the south-western province of Eastern Cape have taken place at illegal initiation schools.

The Department of Health has expressed alarm at the death toll, which has steadily climbed in recent days and said it was sending additional health workers to the area to carry out an audit.

A health spokesman pointed the finger at local communities for the deaths, accusing them of covering up for illegal initiation schools and hiding injured boys until it was too late to save them.

The commonest causes of death are septicaemia from infected wounds, and dehydration, which happens when initiates are denied water by their handlers.

Many more youths are hospitalized each year with infected or mutilated penises.

Eastern Cape is not the only area affected. In May, the north- eastern Mpumalanga province also reported several circumcision deaths.

In 2001 the government passed an act requiring practitioners to have a license from a medical officer for each circumcision, but traditional leaders resisted the measure, saying it infringed communities' rights.