Overview

• 39 boys died and dozens were injured during the 2025 Ulwaluko season, down from 93 fatalities in 2024 and part of 361 deaths over five years.
• Police have closed hundreds of unregistered initiation schools and traditional surgeons now require formal qualification under the Customary Initiation Act.
• Authorities blame criminal gangs operating clandestine schools for most fatalities, citing unsanitary tools that lead to sepsis, gangrene and dehydration.
• Health officials have proposed moving the rites out of South Africa’s hot summer months to curb heat-related complications among initiates.
• Ulwaluko remains a secretive centuries-old Xhosa rite of passage with strong social pressure on boys aged 16 to 26 to undergo circumcision or face ostracism.