Authorities ‘baffled’ by Limpopo boy’s death after being withdrawn from initiation school

People are seeking answers from the Limpopo Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee as to why a 12-year-old boy died in the custody of his parents, a day after he was forcefully removed from an initiation school in Bolobedu, which falls under the Greater Tzaneen and Letaba local municipalities.

The province has 63 initiation schools, known in the province as koma schools.

According to the Limpopo department of cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs which oversees the day-to-day running of these schools, the boy was forcefully withdrawn from the school at the behest of his parents, only to die the following day.

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The cause of his death is still unknown and is subject to a police investigation. Departmental MEC Basikopo Makamu said the parents of the boy had gone to the Modjadji initiation school in Bolobedu and demanded he be withdrawn.

‘One child too many’

“According to a report in my office, his family claimed there was a family ritual taking place at the house the following day and the boy was supposed to be part of it,” said Makamu.

“Against the will of the school management, the parents withdrew the boy and left.

“We were baffled to receive the painful news that he had passed on – may his soul rest in eternal peace because the death of one child is one too many,” he said.

Makamu dispelled allegations that the initiate was abducted.

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“The school had the consent of the boy’s parents, who signed every document needed to be signed for his proper enrolment,” he said.

Makamu said, according to the Customary Initiation Act of 2021 which governs initiation schools, only children above 12 years of age may be enrolled at koma schools. They must provide a certificate of good health before being enrolled and their parents must sign a consent form.

He said the law prohibited children from being abducted to the schools. He said abducting children was a criminal offence.

All schools should have permits to operate and may only run their businesses during the normal school intervals, preferably during winter, he said