Eight-year-old among three Koma fatalities

News of the death of an eight-year-old initiate from Mopani area, reportedly one of three fatal incidents during the resent Koma season, have marred the province’s proud record of incident free seasons over the past two years.
According to the Chairperson of Limpopo House of Traditional Leaders, Malesela Dikgale the eight-year-old died boy at an initiation school in the Mopani area and the other two perished at initiation schools in Sekhukhune and Waterberg districts.
“The cause of the death of
the initiates is unknown. We have opened an inquest docket with the provincial Police. We are saddened to have lost the initiates. We do not yet know what happened but would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to their families. We are urging parents to monitor their children especially boys during this time of the year because they join initiation schools without their parents’ consent. We also appeal to the traditional authorities not to allow underage boys at their schools,” Dikgale said.
He stressed that they were perturbed by the behaviour of some traditional leaders in the province who continue to allow underage boys at the initiation schools despite their efforts to curb the tendency. “We made the announcement earlier this year that there will be no child under the age of 12 years admitted to initiation schools this year. We are disturbed by the tendency but we can assure our parents and community members that we will continue monitoring all the schools in the province to ensure the smooth running of the programme. This year we admitted more than 20 000 initiates at schools across the province and it is our wish that they return to their respective homes unscathed,” Dikgale said.
Provincial Police Spokesperson Moatshe Ngoepe confirmed that an inquest docket was opened by the House of Traditional Leaders and an investigation to determine the cause of death of the three initiates was ongoing.
The programme commenced on 15 June and is expected to end on 15 July.

Story: Herbert Rachuene
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