Rustenburg - Six people have been arrested for murder in Ikageng near Potchefstroom following the death of a teenage boy at an initiation school, North West police said on Thursday.
Captain Paul Ramaloko said a 17-year-old boy died on Wednesday at an unauthorised initiation school. “Upon arrival at the school, police found 37 initiates and a number of them were in a bad state of health. When asked to produce documents for running the school the owner could not, he was subsequently arrested,” Ramaloko said.
He said the school would be shut down on Thursday.
“The owner and his five accomplices, aged between 23 and 32, are due in the Potchefstroom Magistrate’s Court tomorrow [on Friday] on a charge of murder.”
Acting provincial commissioner of police, Major General Jacob Tsumane warned parents to check if initiation schools were registered before sending their children.
“Initiation of our kids is an ancient traditional practice and a ritual. Some see it as a way to quick cash, and as a result they endanger our kinds by conducting these ritual under unauthorised and risky circumstances.”
ANA