Five boys were rescued from an illegal initiation school in Mdantsane near East London on Tuesday, the Eastern Cape health department said.
Spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said a joint operation had been mounted by the department and provincial police.
Police received a complaint from one of the boys’ parents after their child failed to arrive at school on Tuesday.
The parent discovered her son had been circumcised at the initiation school.
The National Circumcision Act regulated the traditional custom in the Eastern Cape, Kupelo said.
Only boys 18-years-old or older may be circumcised by traditional surgeons and these surgeons had to obtain permission from the department to carry out the procedure.
Police were searching for the traditional surgeon and accomplices who were responsible for the illegal circumcisions.
During winter 22 boys lost their lives as a result of botched circumcisions and a further six died after their initiation school burnt down.
”The department of health is fully aware that it is not the custodian of the custom but our intervention is necessitated by the deaths from circumcision-related complications,” he said.
Kupelo warned parents and the community at large that those who continued to disregard the law would be arrested. – Sapa