witchdoctor – praag.org

Witchdoctor who cooked farmer’s testicles declared a mental patient

The ceiling of a sangoma's hut — The ceiling of a sangoma’s hut

A Lesotho sangoma who was found cooking the genitals of a farmer he had murdered, has been declared a State President’s patient by the Free State High Court, Beeld reported on Thursday.

Under the Mental Health Act, he could be committed either to a prison or to a mental institution, the newspaper reported.

Beeld reported that, according to a psychiatric report, Hopolong Moeketsi, 34, could not differentiate right from wrong when he murdered Basie Venter, 65, on the evening of March 30, 2009, and Jan van Wyk, 82, the next day.

Witness John Engelbrecht reportedly told the court he saw a man sweeping outside the house when he arrived on the farm on March 31.

The man, whose legs were covered in blood, ran inside and locked the door, but Engelbrecht kicked it down.

The man attacked him with a pair of scissors and an axe, but he overpowered him and tied him up.

He found Van Wyk’s naked, mutilated body under a blanket in the bloodstained lounge, and found his genitals cooking in a pot. – Sapa

Sick note from witchdocter is valid, South African Labour Court finds

Xhosa sangomas in Mgwali village, Eastern Cape of South Africa performing a cultural dance.

A woman who was “badly tormented by her ancestors” had to be reinstated in her post, even if she took a month’s leave without her employer’s permission, the Labour Appeal Court has ruled.

Three judges from the Labour Appeals Court delivered their verdict, saying the judgment was “something new”, Beeld reported.

Johannah Mmelodi, who had already worked for the Kievitskroon Country Estate for eight years, attended in her own free time a course to become a traditional healer.

After completing the course, she asked for a month’s unpaid leave to attend another course, to become a sangoma.

Her employers turned down her request, and she attended the course regardless, but not before dropping off a sick note from a traditional healer at her employer’s office.

The sick note stated that she was being “badly tormented by her ancestors”.

After she returned to work, she was subjected to a disciplinary hearing for absenteeism and fired.

The CCMA found that Mmelodi’s dismissal was unfair, and they reinstated her in her post.

The company appealed, and the Labour Appeals Court ruled in Mmelodi’s favour, saying South Africa was a land of many cultures and that traditional Western culture could not be allowed to dominate the African culture of many of the country’s inhabitants. – Sapa

My witchdoctor raped me

A sangoma from Soweto was arrested on Tuesday morning for allegedly raping a woman who had gone to him for healing, Gauteng police said.

The 50-year-old man invited the woman to his residence to carry out a cleansing ritual on Monday night because she believed she was cursed with bad luck, spokesman Captain Kay Makhubela said.

“She was instructed to buy a white chicken and when she arrived with it… the chicken was killed and the blood was mixed with water and medication.”

The sangoma then ordered the 37-year-old to take a bath in another room and not wear clothes after she was done.

“Then he went into the room and told her she was healed. All of a sudden, he was on top of her and he raped her,” said Makhubela.

The man later threw the bath water out and said she was healed of the bad luck.

A case of rape was opened. – Sapa