Mdantsane pupil takes own life after mockery over hospitalisation during initiation

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An 18-year-old Mdantsane matric pupil died last week in what police believed was suicide, following months of alleged ridicule after complications during his traditional initiation.

Zusakhe Mrara, from NU14, underwent initiation in December 2025 but was later hospitalised after developing medical complications.

According to Eastern Cape cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta), his return home was followed by sustained mockery after word spread that he had sought medical treatment.

After he came back from the initiation school, word spread in his community that he had been admitted to hospital during the rite of passage. From that moment, he was mocked, ridiculed and dehumanised by his peers
— Pheello Oliphant

Cogta MEC Zolile Williams’s spokesperson, Pheello Oliphant, said the stigma had a severe psychological impact.

“After he came back from the initiation school, word spread in his community that he had been admitted to hospital during the rite of passage,” Oliphant said.

“From that moment, he was mocked, ridiculed and dehumanised by his peers.

“He could not withstand the psychological trauma and eventually took his own life.”

Peers are alleged to have labelled him a “coward”, “ilulwane” and a “half-man” for leaving the mountain to receive urgent medical care.

Williams attended a memorial service at the family home last week and condemned the behaviour, warning that stigma around initiation complications is costing lives.

“The mocking and stigmatisation of newly graduated men by the community inflicts an emotional scar on young men,” he said.

“It makes them feel like outcasts in society.

“It leads young men to take their own lives — the habit must be condemned. Manhood means protecting life."

He said seeking medical attention should not be viewed as weakness.

“Seeking medical attention when you are injured or ill is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of responsibility. The purpose of initiation is to guide a young man into adulthood with integrity and dignity. When we turn his need for care into an opportunity for humiliation, we betray that purpose and put lives at risk.”

Williams said authorities would work with traditional leaders to address stigma and consider legal consequences for those responsible for harassment.

Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee chair Nkosi Gwazinamba Matanzima said the case highlights the need for greater awareness around safe initiation practices and mental health.

“This shows that there is a lot of community awareness to be done on safe initiation and making communities aware of the right to medical attention,” Matanzima said.

“This is as much a social and mental health issue as it is a cultural one.

“We need to have honest conversations in our homes, villages and townships.”

Matanzima said it was the second such incident reported in Mdantsane in the past decade.

The Eastern Cape recorded 23 deaths during the 2025 summer initiation season, down from 34 in 2024. Most fatalities are linked to unsafe practices, dehydration, infections and assaults at illegal or poorly regulated initiation schools.

In recent years, the provincial government and traditional leaders have partnered with the health department to allow medical oversight at registered schools, including screening, wound care and emergency intervention.

Despite these measures, officials say stigma remains a major challenge.

Needing medical care must not be interpreted as a failure to endure, but as a responsible health decision. Tradition without life has no meaning
— Cogta MEC Zolile Williams