A man has allegedly been murdered following a dispute at an initiation graduation just outside Queenstown, Eastern Cape police said on Wednesday.

“A misunderstanding about seniority in the seating arrangement resulted [in] the murder of a 26-year-old man,” police captain Jackson Manatha said in a statement.

He said that the man clashed with another, aged 23, about who was more senior, which determined where they could sit during the traditional initiation graduation ceremony. The ceremony was being held at a home in Mzamo Section in Ilinge Township on Tuesday afternoon.

“Both men left the house which was full of people.

“It is alleged that the 23-year-old suspect drew his knife and fatally stabbed the 26-year-old man on his upper body.”

The alleged attacker was subsequently arrested. He will appear before the Ezibeleni Magistrate’s Court on a murder charge on Thursday.

 – Compiled by Mirah Langer