22 boys die in botched circumcisi​on rituals

South Africa police from the Mpumalanga province reported on Thursday that at least 20 South African boys lost their lives in the last week during traditional initiation rituals.

The deaths are being blamed on botched circumcisions.

Colonel Leonard Hlathi, spokesperson for Northern Mpumalanga Province's police department told reporters that his office had opened 22 murder cases but indicated that no arrests had been made yet.

Previous deaths resulted from victims bleeding out or having their wounds infected as the practice is done badly by traditional elders with no training in infection control.

Collins Chibane, a minister in the Presidency responsible for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, described the deaths as "regrettable".

He went on to say, "This has happened to young people who were still at their prime, looking forward to a brighter future where they could still reach their potential."

Various tribes in South Africa conduct initiation rituals where boys between 10years and 15years old are circumcised using traditional practices. In most cases the rituals last as long as a week.

Police investigations continue.