![[File photo] Initiates undergoing the traditional passage to manhood in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Initiation-school-R.png)
The King Sabata Dalindyebo Initiation Forum says it has rescued 14 initiates from an illegal initiation school in Mqanduli in the Eastern Cape.
Three of the initiates managed to escape and disappeared into the bushes.
Three traditional nurses and one parent have been arrested.
Contralesa provincial secretary Chief Mkhanyiseli Dudumayo says among the rescued initiates were under-aged boys.
The manhunt for the three initiates who fled is under way.
Traditional nurses and a parent will appear at Mqanduli Magistrate’s Court for contravening COVID-19 regulations.
Chief Dudumayo has called on traditional leaders to report illegal initiation schools in rural areas.
