Circumstances surrounding the death of a young man at an initiation school in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth, are being investigated.
Mlulamile Mlinda was found dead in his tent three days before Christmas.
His age was not immediately available on Friday.
Nelson Mandela Bay initiation committee deputy chair Fikile Desi said Mlinda, of Motherwell, had been found dead on December 23 – the same day he was due to return home.
Desi said on Friday the cause of death had not yet been established.
“We are still waiting for the postmortem results,” he said.
Desi said Mlinda had been in good health and had been a given a medical clearance certificate.
“He was registered with us and, with permission from his parents, had been to the clinic for all the necessary tests.”
Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said an inquest docket had been opened. Eastern Cape cooperative governance and traditional affairs spokesperson Mamkeli Ngam said Mlinda was the 21st initiate to have died in the province since the start of the summer initiation season.
Senior leaders from national and provincial bodies met at Nqadu Great Place in Willowvale on Thursday to urgently address the situation.
The leaders, who met behind closed doors, included cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister Zweli Mkhize and the National House of Traditional Leaders chair Nkosi Sipho Mahlangu.
AmaXhosa King MpenduloSigcawu, speaking before the meeting, said: “We are faced with a bad situation and we hope that Mkhize can find ways to assist us.”
Mkhize said it pained him that so many initiates were dying.
“We need to close all gaps and ensure that all those who break the law regulating the rite are arrested and that all those under whose care the initiates die are arrested,” Mkhize said.