A 16-year-old youth has died following an illegal circumcision ritual near Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, the provincial health department said on Thursday.
Spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said the youth died at an initiation school outside Lurhasini village in the early hours of Thursday morning.
It was suspected that he died of dehydration.
Two other would-be initiates from the school, aged 16 and 17, had been rushed to the Mthatha General Hospital in a critical condition.
'If we had known of this thing, we could have acted earlier' "They are even struggling to talk," he said.
A 19-year-old who had acted - illegally - as a traditional nurse had been arrested, and police were searching for the young man who performed the circumcisions.
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Kupelo said the man, not registered as a traditional surgeon as required by provincial law, had had previous brushes with the law.
Several years ago, police used a helicopter to hunt for him after he had performed illegal circumcisions.
Kupelo said Thursday's death was the first reported incident since the department's successful safe circumcision campaign of the December circumcision season.
The campaign saw the number of circumcision-related deaths in the province drop to four from 25 the previous season.
He said of the Lurhasini incident that the department had not been expecting circumcisions at this time of year.
This emphasised the important role that local communities played in fighting illegal circumcisions.
"If we had known of this thing, we could have acted earlier to stop it," he said. - Sapa
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