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Days after burn injuries at another site, a 19-year-old initiate dies in Sekhukhune following a health emergency.
Initiates parading in July 2022 during their arrival from the initiation school. Picture: Sibongumenzi Sibiya
Hardly a week after six initiates sustained third-degree burn injuries when an initiation school house burnt down, another reportedly died at the weekend while attending an initiation school in Limpopo.
The Limpopo department of cooperative governance, human settlement and traditional affairs said the incident happened at an initiation school in the Sekhukhune region.
The department named the dead man as 19-year-old Raymond Sekele from the Dennelton area.
Initiate dies following health emergency
Sekele was reportedly an epileptic who was constantly receiving medical treatment for the condition from a caregiver while at the school.
The department said Sekele had an epileptic episode and collapsed on 2 July.
He was attended to by the caregiver.
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According to the department, he later recovered fully and resumed normal school activities without further complaints.
Limpopo MEC for cooperative governance, human settlement and traditional affairs Basikopo Makamu said he received a report that an initiate had failed to wake up on Sunday.
“However, it was not considered unusual as Sekele was known to sleep longer than the others. At 8am, the caregiver checked on him and found that he was unresponsive and had weak breathing.”
Sekele found unresponsive and weak
Makamu said in light of Sekele’s deteriorating health condition, the assigned doctor at the initiation school and his guardian were notified.
The school was advised to urgently take the initiate to a hospital where he could see a doctor for a check-up.
“On arrival at Philadelphia Hospital, Sekele was admitted for emergency treatment.
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“Later in the day, the caregiver received a call from the initiate’s family confirming that he had died.
“We are deeply saddened by the death of this initiate because one death is one too many,” the MEC added.
“We can also confirm that the deceased (Sekele) was admitted to a legal initiation school.”
Burn injuries at another site
He said his department would work with the police to ensure similar incidents did not occur in future.
Meanwhile, the six initiates who sustained burn injuries when the initiation school house burnt down near Tzaneen a fortnight ago have been discharged and are recovering.
