Lightning claimed the lives of an initiate and a traditional nurse in the Cofimvaba area at the weekend, police said on Sunday.
Superintendent Gcinikaya Taleni said initiate Bantom Bonga (19) and traditional nurse Salele Mbali (42) were killed when lightning struck their grass hut at Mthingwevu at about 5pm on Friday.
The two were the only occupants of the hut at the time. In accordance with Xhosa custom the bodies of the victims were buried on Saturday in the exact spot where they were killed.
Ten people — three initiates, three men and four boys ‒ died on December 30 last year when lightning struck their grass hut on the banks of the Sabelele River at Cofimvaba.
In a separate incident an 18-year-old initiate, Banzi Mguzulo, died in Lady Frere on Friday afternoon after apparently being struck by lightning.
Mguzulo and a fellow initiate were walking in the field near their hut when it started raining. The two then began walking to their hut. When the fellow initiate looked back he saw Mguzulo lying on the grass.
On investigation he found Mguzulo was dead.
Taleni said the cause of death had yet to be established, but health authorities believe that Mguzulo was struck by lightning as he died at about 5pm, the same time as the two from Cofimvaba were killed.
The three deaths on Friday bring to nine the total number of circumcision-related deaths in the province since the beginning ofthe summer initiation period.
Dweba said 21 initiates were admitted to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane, 15 to the Mthatha General Hospital and 15 to the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, bringing the total number of admissions to 51.
He said it would be incorrect to assume that all those initiates were admitted as a result of complications arising from their ”traditional surgery”.
He said officials would visit hospitals to get a clear indication of whether the patients were admitted because the ”experience was too painful” or whether there were serious illnesses.
With still a number of weeks to go until the initiation season is over, Dweba said that ”’as a province are more in control this year”.
He said the number of deaths had dropped drastically since the government started its training programme. – Sapa