CAPE TOWN, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Despite the government's zero-tolerance towards illegal initiation schools, three teenagers have died of botched circumcision in the Eastern Cape Province since the winter initiation season began, authorities said on Friday.

The three victims, two of them 15-year-old, died on Thursday in Nyandeni after being circumcised by quack doctors, the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CGTA) said.

This marked the first reported deaths since the winter initiation season began 10 days ago.

The department said the three boys had been admitted to illegal initiation schools.

Department spokesperson Mamkeli Ngam blamed lack of supervision for the deaths of the teenagers.

He said police have launched an investigation into the case.

Every year dozens of boys die and many more are hospitalized in South Africa as a result of botched circumcision. In the last 10 years there have been more than 1,000 penile amputations.

Most of the deaths are reported in the Eastern Cape Province, a hotbed of botched circumcision.

Circumcision is viewed a sacred practice in African cultures, marking a male's transition from child to adulthood. According to the tradition, young males have to be circumcised as the passage to manhood.