MPs are set to conduct public hearings on a new bill to regulate customary initiation practices in South Africa.

The hearings on the Customary Initiation Bill will start in Port Elizabeth on Monday.

"The public hearings are intended to put meaning into Parliament’s constitutional obligation to ensure public participation in legislation-making," a statement from the national legislature said.

The bill, once enacted, will see a National Initiation Oversight Committee and Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committees established.

Unregulated initiation schools has led to thousands of deaths of young men due to botched circumcisions and assaults.