The Mpumalanga government should shut down the initiation school where eight initiates died after being circumcised, the Democratic Alliance said on Thursday.

"We are calling for the MECs for Health, Education and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to come together and close down the initiation school that is responsible for the untimely deaths of eight young boys, and to launch an investigation into the actual cause of death," said the party's Mpumalanga spokesperson Velly Manzini.

He was responding to Wednesday's reports about eight initiates who died after being circumcised at an initiation school in Kwamhlanga.

He expressed shock at the statement issued by health MEC Dikeledi Mahlangu on Wednesday.

Mahlangu had said: "We are currently consulting with the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders, and Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to draw up a collective intervention strategy aimed at preventing loss of more lives."

While understanding the MEC's attempts to assist in the situation, he believed that government should "step in and put a stop to the untimely deaths of our youths".

"One needs to find the cause before they can prevent any more deaths and an investigation will determine the actual cause."

If any negligence was found to be the cause, justice must run its course for the individuals implicated, said Manzini.

He appealed to parents considering sending their children to an initiation school to make sure they send them to legal and credible schools.

Sapa

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