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The arrests were made after concerned parents reported their children missing at the Mahikeng and Lehurutshe police stations.
Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Funani, the spokesperson for the North West police, stated that investigations led them to an illegal initiation school located between Ramatlabama and Tsetse villages outside Mahikeng.
The three suspects reportedly convinced unsuspecting boys from the neighboring villages to join the initiation school and subsequently contacted their parents, demanding money for the boys’ safety.
Approximately 40 initiates aged between 15 and 20 were rescued, the illegal school was shut down, and the boys received medical treatment at a local hospital.
During the operation, blankets, bags of maize meal, and a large cooking pot were discovered at the initiation school.
The three men have been arrested on charges of kidnapping and violating the Custom Initiation Act of 2021 (Act No. 2 of 2021).
One of the suspects, Bongani Moatlhodi, aged 24, was apprehended by Lehurutshe police at Lonely Park and appeared in the Lehurutshe Magistrate’s Court on Friday in connection with the abduction of a 16-year-old boy.
The other two suspects, aged 26 and 30, are scheduled to make their initial court appearance at the Molopo Magistrate’s Court in Mmabatho on Monday, July 3. Moatlhodi’s bail application has been postponed until July 3.