Shocking rise in killing of nurses and caregivers at East Cape initiation schools

The murder and assault of traditional nurses and caregivers at male initiation schools are causing concern among Eastern Cape authorities, who fear people may refuse to look after initiates unless they are provided with bodyguards.

At least four men have been killed this initiation season.

Eastern Cape House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders chair Nkosi Mpumalanga Gwadiso said the criminal activities of initiates often aimed at traditional nurses and relatives was a worry.

“It is changing the outlook of the rite of passage.

“Each season we are seeing a variety of horrible things happening in our initiation schools.

“The killing of men in initiation schools is now escalating and this is unprecedented. “This should be stopped. “It would be foreign to have to guard traditional nurses to ensure they are safe when looking after initiates.”

Sibabalwe Teyise, 25, a Nelson Mandela University PR and media management final-year student, was buried at Mngceni village near Tsolo on Saturday.

Teyise’s family claimed he was assaulted by a group of initiates and young men at an initiation school at Ndisane village near Mthatha on December 23, while visiting his younger brother, Siphesihle, 19, who was an initiate in the school.

At the funeral, Siphesihle said he was forced to watch his brother being beaten by the group.

“I was called to witness the brutal killing of my brother,” he alleged.

‘They were scary and ruthless.

“They rejoiced and celebrated when inflicting pain on my brother.

“He was unarmed and crying for mercy,” he alleged.

“This still has a psychological effect on me.”

Siphesihle said the group allegedly took turns assaulting his brother until he fainted.

“There was nothing I could do to save his life. They said he had insulted their manhood.”

Teyise was declared dead on arrival at Mthatha General Hospital after he was rushed there by the traditional surgeons and owner of the initiation school.

NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said one person, Sakhumzi Ntuku, was arrested for Teyise’s murder.

He is out on bail and the matter will be back in court on March 28.

In other incidents, a 25year-old traditional nurse, Thabane Masikhothe, was hacked to death with an axe, allegedly by an initiate at Dadamba village near Willowvale on November 24.

The Herald’s sister paper Daily Dispatch has reported on several other killings in which initiates were implicated.

● Three Busakwe brothers, two of them initiates and their older sibling a traditional nurse, were gunned down in Ngqamakhwe.

Initiates Awonke, 19, and Anele, 20, and their brother, Sakhe, 25, were shot dead by three armed men at the initiation hut in Mntla village in Ngqamakhwe on December 5.

A fourth brother, Siyasanga, 27, was shot and wounded.

Sakhe and Siyasanga were traditional surgeons.

● In January, a 28-year-old traditional nurse died after an initiation hut caught fire in Ngcobo.

Three initiates who were with him escaped the fire, one suffering superficial burns.

● In 2022, an initiate was found guilty of murder after he stabbed his traditional nurse to death in Graaff-Reinet.

● Fourteen initiates accused of killing a peer — Sands Makhwenkwana, 16, — were arrested in Qumrha in December 2019.

They allegedly beat Sands to death, accusing him of stealing their food at an initiation camp. The case is yet to be finalised.

● Five initiates were arrested for allegedly killing a woman, Nolulamo Lulu Faku, 59, whom they claimed was at their initiation camp at Mncotsho village in Ntabozuko (formerly Berlin) near East London on December 24 2017.