A CIRCUMCISION school in Mpumalanga was forced to close yesterday after the death of an initiate
13-years-old Frans Khoza, of Lefiswane village in Marapyane, Hammanskraal, reportedly died under mysterious circumstances on Tuesday at the Koedespoort initiation school.
Khoza's aunt, Joyce Khoza said they were still waiting for an autopsy to establish the real cause of his death.
She said she did not buy an explanation by the school head, William Selamolela, that he died of natural causes.
"There are just too many inconsistencies in his explanation about Frans' death and we suspect there is more to his death," Khoza said.
"One moment he says Frans died of natural causes and the next because he was weak.
"He also told other people different versions of what really caused the death," Khoza said.
Khoza said the family was informed of Khoza's death by Selamolela on Tuesday.
"He called early in the morning, saying he wanted to see someone in the family urgently. When we asked if there was something wrong with Frans he said no.
"But hours later we got a message that Frans had passed away and that he would be buried at the school."
This prompted the family to alert the police, who accompanied them to the school to fetch the body.
The body is in the state mortuary for a postmortem.
Frans was a Grade 6 pupil at Ditlhokwe Primary School in GaMaria and teachers there said he was too weak to go to the initiation school.
"He was suffering from TB and I fail to understand why his family allowed him to go," a teacher said. "I was against this idea when he came to say goodbye to me a day before he went to the mountains and I told him that he was too weak to go," he said.
But Frans' family defended their decision to allow him, saying they had always sent his medications to the school.
Selamolela insisted that Frans had died of natural causes.
He admitted that the tragedy had forced him to close the school prematurely.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard Hlathi said an inquest docket had been opened into the boy's death.
Conflict as 13-year-old dies at koma
A CIRCUMCISION school in Mpumalanga was forced to close yesterday after the death of an initiate
13-years-old Frans Khoza, of Lefiswane village in Marapyane, Hammanskraal, reportedly died under mysterious circumstances on Tuesday at the Koedespoort initiation school.
Khoza's aunt, Joyce Khoza said they were still waiting for an autopsy to establish the real cause of his death.
She said she did not buy an explanation by the school head, William Selamolela, that he died of natural causes.
"There are just too many inconsistencies in his explanation about Frans' death and we suspect there is more to his death," Khoza said.
"One moment he says Frans died of natural causes and the next because he was weak.
"He also told other people different versions of what really caused the death," Khoza said.
Khoza said the family was informed of Khoza's death by Selamolela on Tuesday.
"He called early in the morning, saying he wanted to see someone in the family urgently. When we asked if there was something wrong with Frans he said no.
"But hours later we got a message that Frans had passed away and that he would be buried at the school."
This prompted the family to alert the police, who accompanied them to the school to fetch the body.
The body is in the state mortuary for a postmortem.
Frans was a Grade 6 pupil at Ditlhokwe Primary School in GaMaria and teachers there said he was too weak to go to the initiation school.
"He was suffering from TB and I fail to understand why his family allowed him to go," a teacher said. "I was against this idea when he came to say goodbye to me a day before he went to the mountains and I told him that he was too weak to go," he said.
But Frans' family defended their decision to allow him, saying they had always sent his medications to the school.
Selamolela insisted that Frans had died of natural causes.
He admitted that the tragedy had forced him to close the school prematurely.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard Hlathi said an inquest docket had been opened into the boy's death.
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