Mass circumcision ceremony leaves 39 boys dead and dozens more mutilated

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Mass circumcision ceremony leaves 39 boys dead and dozens more mutilated after botched procedures during tribal 'initiation' in South Africa


The 2025 tribal 'initiation ceremony' where teenage males in South Africa undergo agonising circumcision has ended – with 39 deaths and dozens more boys mutilated.

Despite a target being set by the Government of zero fatalities this year, the figure is still a huge drop on last year where 93 died, while a total of 361 boys have died in the last five years.

Gruesome complications in 2024 led to 11 penis amputations after unskilled traditional 'surgeons' used old spears and razor blades to perform the eye-watering rituals.


Thousands more have ended up in hospital since 2020 after the twice-yearly three-month seasons of initiation which ends with the circumcision.

The ceremony, known as Ulwaluko, is typically carried out by Xhosa people and marks the transition from boyhood to manhood.

Boys generally undergo the centuries old ritual aged between 16 and 26.

Without undergoing the ceremony they are not allowed to sit in on tribal meetings, take part in some social activities or get married.

The rituals have been held for centuries in secret in specially built huts away from the villages where nobody except the tribal elders and the young initiates can enter.

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