'Witches Gasp' - Luke Martin

Modern Witch-hunts in South Africa
(1980 to 2007)

by Damon Leff

Part I. 1980 to 2003

Liberation from political tyranny does not result in automatic freedom from the bondage of superstition and urban legend. If it did, there would not have been cause to write this. In the midst of South Africa’s ongoing struggle for an inclusive and participatory democracy based on the principles of equality, dignity, freedom and the rule of law, an irrational fear - not at all justified with good reason or sound evidence - is steadily and measurably feeding a beast of chaos and slaughter in the rainbow nation.

We are not talking about corporate and government corruption, crime, political intrigue and scandal, high unemployment, a lack of affordable housing for the poor, unresolved tenure of occupation and land, environmental degradation and pollution, or the prejudiced and unequal distribution of natural resources and opportunity. These are certainly cause for some anxiety in any country, although not unexpected in ours in the present, given (at least in part) our historical inheritance, but they are not the reason for this beast’s feast.

For many South Africans a Witch is nothing but a source of mischief, quarrel, illness, barrenness and sudden death. In common usage the word is virtually synonymous with poisoner, murderer and liar and has become a label of convenience for any archetypal evil that threatens the natural and good societal order. In rural and urban South Africa, the mere suspicion of Witchcraft activity may lead to public accusation, assault, enforced exile or murder, especially in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

Perhaps few other words has elicited more hatred, hostility and suffering in twentieth and twenty first century South Africa than the word Witch. Since 1980 thousands of innocent men and women have been accused of being Witches or of using Witchcraft. Many have been murdered by their communities without trial. Many more have been banished from their villages, their homes destroyed and members of their families murdered or forced to flee in fear of their lives. These all too frequent incidences of communally driven acts of revenge against alleged Witches have been attributed by many to political and social unrest preceding constitutional democracy in South Africa in 1994.

In 1985 then President P.W. Botha declared a state of emergency in 36 magisterial districts following increasing civil unrest and violence. This was extended to the entire country on 12 June 1986 and lasted until 1990 when the then State President F.W. de Klerk un-banned the African National Congress, the Pan Africanist Congress and the South African Communist Party. Under the Internal Security Act of Botha’s regime, the South African Police and South African Defence Force were given free reign to intimidate, arrest without warrant, torture, maim and murder. Curfews were implemented to control the movement of non-White civilians. The majority of South Africans lived in a state of perpetual fear and the media was censored or used to promulgate propaganda in support of the government and its policy of ‘separate development’ or Apartheid.

Whilst the state of emergency in South Africa during the 1980’s may indeed have contributed to increasing insecurity and paranoia, Witch hunts did not come to end after 1990. During the 1990's the expelling and killing of suspected Witches occurred frequently in several provinces. The frequency of occurrence of Witch hunts within the Limpopo Province prompted the former Premier of Limpopo Province in 1995, Advocate Ngoako Ramathlodi, to appoint a Commission of Inquiry to investigate, amongst other things, the ‘phenomenon of Witch purging’.

The Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Violence and Ritual Murder in the Northern Province chaired by Professor N. V. Ralushai revealed the tragedy of Witch purging. The Ralushai Report found that prior to 1980 suspected Witches identified through various methods of divination by “witchdoctors” (diviners or traditional healers acting as Witch-finders) were apprehended by members of their community and killed without trial. Many testified before the commission that some murders were politically instigated.

The Ralushai Commission’s report defined the term Witch to mean a person who, …through sheer malice, either consciously or subconsciously, employs magical means to inflict all manner of evil on their fellow human beings. They destroy property, bring disease or misfortune and cause death, often entirely without provocation to satisfy their inherent craving for evil doing. [1]

The findings of the Commission revealed that the majority of people in the Northern Province, and by inference in South Africa in general, including members of the South African Police Services (SAPS), believe in the existence of Witches and fear the effects of Witchcraft. Amongst traditional African people misfortune, illness and especially premature death is often believed to be caused through the agency of Witchcraft.

.. All kinds of misfortune, including matters as varied as financial problems, illness, (and) drought or lightening strikes, are blamed on witchcraft. [2]

In ‘AIDS, Witchcraft, and the Problem of Power in Post-Apartheid South Africa’, Adam Ashforth writes, Witchcraft in the South African context typically means the manipulation by malicious individuals of powers inherent in persons, spiritual entities, and substances to cause harm to others... the motive of witchcraft is typically said to be “jealousy”. [3]

Findings show that the murder of suspected Witches increased sharply during the 1980’s in Venda, Lebowa and Gazankulu in the Northern Province (Limpopo). Between January 1990 and April 1995, 455 cases related to Witchcraft accusations were opened by the South African Police Service in the Limpopo Province. [4] In 1996 the number of Witchcraft related cases dropped from 676 to 417. [5]

The Ralushai Commission found that, In later years the killing was done by comrades (youths) ranging in age from 14 to 38 years. Some people believe that the youths were used by politicians or unscrupulous adults for their own purposes. The perception that many of these murders were politically instigated seems to be borne out by the statistics. [6]

Following the findings of the 1995 Ralushai Commission and several successive national and regional Conferences, the Commission recommended, a) encouraging Traditional healers to “emphasise the curative and preventative aspect of medicine, instead of pointing out so-called witches”, b) prosecuting perpetrators of ritual murders (referred to as muti murders) and instigators of Witch hunts, and c) drafting appropriate legislation to govern the activities of Traditional Healers.

In November 1995 Human Rights Watch reported:

In some rural areas of South Africa, violence against women also includes the phenomenon of witchcraft killings, which are most often directed against women, although men are also on occasion attacked after accusations that they have practiced black magic. At least ninety-seven women and forty-nine men were killed in Northern Province during the period April 1994 to February 1995, according to police statistics quoted in an interim report published by a commission of inquiry appointed by the new provincial government to investigate witchcraft and ritual killings in the province. All kinds of misfortune, including matters as varied as financial problems, illness, drought and lightning strikes, are blamed on witchcraft, and traditional healers or "witch doctors" may then be paid to search out the individuals responsible. A number of villages have even been created under police protection to house people accused of witchcraft who have fled their homes. While convictions of the perpetrators of these killings have been secured in some cases, in many cases the reluctance of witnesses to come forward prejudices any investigation. [7]

The number of cases diminished sharply after 1996 and no cases were reported at the beginning of 1998 but Witch hunts did not entirely cease during 1998. In response to the ongoing purge of alleged Witches in several provinces the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) [8] convened a ‘National Conference on Witchcraft Violence’ in Thohoyandou, Venda, in September 1998. Professor Ralushai testified at the hearing. ‘The Thohoyandou Declaration on Ending Witchcraft Violence’ [9] was issued by the Commission on Gender Equality in response to the findings of the conference on 10 September.

Participants of The Witchcraft Violence Conference, including survivors and perpetrators of violence against suspected Witches, supported the assertion that accusations of Witchcraft were most often simply motivated by jealousy and that victims of such violence were innocent of the allegations made against them. The Commission released its final report on the conference in Pietersburg in March 1999.

In 1999 Pinkie Mbowane reported in The Sowetan,

Ms Njini told the audience about the day she came home to find that everything had been burnt down. "Today I have nothing - no children, no parents, no goats or fowls," she said. "Everything was destroyed." She broke down at this point and had to return to her seat. There was an uncomfortable shuffling everywhere in the room. Her audience included politicians, religious and traditional leaders, police and the very people who had reduced her life to the state of a homeless beggar. [10]

In response to the findings of the Conference the CGE launched its ‘Action Plan for the Eradication of Witchcraft Violence’ by committing itself to monitoring the progress of “legislative reform, victim support, the reintegration of victims into communities, and reconciliation and public education programmes” aimed at eradicating ‘witchcraft violence’. [11]

The National Conference on Witchcraft Violence served as a catalyst to structures that previously ignored the life-threatening effects of violence against accused Witches on families and communities. Political parties, safety and security institutions, civic organisations, churches and labour movements committed themselves to stopping the violence with the adoption of the Thohoyandou Declaration on Ending Witchcraft Violence. [12]

The CGE’s Action Plan for the Eradication of Witchcraft Violence included:

a) strengthening the South African Police Service’s ability to respond appropriately to incidences of violence related to Witch-hunts and accusations of Witchcraft,
b) making the eradication of violence against suspected Witches a national budget priority,
c) special training for police in handling Witchcraft violence,
d) the creation of special investigative units,
e) the creation of victim support units to facilitate reintegration and conciliation,
f) the adoption of a comprehensive public education and awareness campaign, and
g) comprehensive legislative reform of the existing Witchcraft Suppression Act.

To date (February 2008) the Witchcraft Suppression Act 3 of 1957 as amended by the Witchcraft Suppression Amendment Act 50 of 1970 remains unchanged despite the CGE’s best intentions. It is not clear to what extent victims of Witchcraft violence have successfully been reintegrated into their communities, nor to what extent attempts at reconciliation have indeed succeeded in preventing further Witch hunts.

It is also not clear what ‘public education programmes and awareness campaigns’ were intended to attempt to eradicate Witchcraft violence. If indeed these “roadshows” have been undertaken either by the Commission of Gender Equality or by affected local Municipal structures, they have failed to challenge the fundamental beliefs motivating Witch purges, as violent Witch hunts against suspected Witches and against people suspected of using Witchcraft continue unabated.

Testifying before a Truth and Reconciliation Commission Amnesty Hearing in 1999 Ralushai confirmed his Commission’s definition of a Witch when he was asked by attorney Patrick Ndou to define what a Witch was. Ralushai stated, "A witch is supposed to be a person who is endowed with powers of causing illness or ill luck or death to the person that he wants to destroy." [13]

In 2003 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Amnesty Committee gave further credence to the findings of the 1995 Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Violence and Ritual Murder in the Northern Province by publishing in its report,

...a belief in witchcraft was still widely prevalent in certain rural areas of South Africa. Moreover, it became clear to the Committee that the issue of witchcraft had – at certain times in some rural areas – been a central factor in some of the recent political conflicts between supporters of the liberation movements and the forces seeking to entrench the status quo. The former were of the opinion that traditional practices and beliefs related to witchcraft had been exploited by the latter to advance their positions. The Committee accepted the following finding of the Ralushai Commission of Inquiry: Apartheid politics turned traditional leaders into politicians representing a system which was not popular with many people, because they were seen as upholders of that system. For this reason, traditional leaders became the target of the now politicised youth. It further accepted the view of the Commission of Inquiry that in some cases the youth intimidated traditional leaders in such a way that the latter had little or no option but to sniff out so-called witches. It was also clear from the evidence heard by the Committee that, in Venda particularly, the liberation forces used cases of witchcraft and ritual killings to politicise communities. This strategy was facilitated by the fact that local communities were dissatisfied with the manner in which the apartheid authorities had handled such cases. For example, the failure of the authorities to act against people who were believed to be witches resulted in a belief that the government was the protector of witches. In Venda, where traditional leaders with relatively poor education were politically empowered and were associated with some of the most heinous abuses, the situation was ripe for political conflict. In some cases, where comrades and other pro-liberation movement activists were perceived as having died as a result of witchcraft, community organisations took steps to eliminate those they believed to have been responsible for these deaths. The Committee shares the widespread concern expressed by civil society about the continued prevalence of practices and violent incidents related to a belief in witchcraft in certain areas. It is the Committee’s view that this issue warrants further attention by the appropriate government authorities. [14]

Part II. 2000 to 2004

Incidences of Witchcraft accusations and revenge attacks continued unabated between 2000 and 2005 despite the findings of the Thohoyandou Declaration on Ending Witchcraft Violence and in spite of the Commission of Gender Equality’s undertaking in 1999 to monitor the progress of reconciliation and public education programmes aimed at eradicating Witchcraft violence in the execution of its ‘Action Plan for the Eradication of Witchcraft Violence’.

The use of the term ‘Witchcraft violence’ is unfortunate as it implies, incorrectly, that Witches are the ones perpetrating violent actions when in fact innocent men, women and children are almost daily the victims of deep-seated prejudice and violence perpetrated by their accusers.

On 20 September 2000 African Eye News Service reported that 16 people, eight of whom were teenage girls, accused 58 year old Mrs. Matjatji Selaelo Makhuna of Mokgolobotho village, Tzaneen (Limpopo Province) of Witchcraft after a 27-year-old villager, Flora Mohale, was killed in a car accident. The villagers besieged Mrs. Makhuna’s house, breaking windows and dismantling the roof in their attempt to apprehend her. She was rescued together with three daughters and two granddaughters by police and they were forced to spend three nights in the Tzaneen police station for their own safety. Tzaneen police spokesperson Inspector Caroline Sidutla advised Mrs. Makhuna not to return to Mokgolobotho village and undertook to help settle her and her family at Lusaka village 10km away. [15] The article confirms that the 16 accused appeared in the Ritavi Magistrates' Court near Tzaneen and were charged with malicious damage to property and illegally identifying someone as a Witch.

An article of 31 October reports that although Mrs. Makhuna and her family did move to Lusaka village, they were evicted by residents and forced to settle at another unnamed village 20 km away from Mokgolobotho. The 16 accused were released with a warning not to engage in further acts of revenge and the case was postponed to 16 January 2001. [16]

On 10 October the South African Press Association reported that an elderly woman suspected of being a Witch and five others burnt to death after their home in Ngema in northern KwaZulu-Natal was attacked and set alight by five men. Neighbours only informed the police of the incident two days later. The victims were reported as being Makhemu Ngema (65), Mbhejile Sibiya (28), Hlengiwe Ntuli (20), Samukelisiwe Masikane (7), Khanyisane Ngema (6) and Siyabonga Masikane (aged 3). [17]

In ‘Bewitched rooster case set for trial’ of 2 November Zenzele Kuhlase reported that five of the six men accused of hanging a suspected Witch, Simon Magagula (30), from a graveyard tree in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, were freed on R1 500 bail each. The sixth, a minor when he was arrested, was released into the custody of his parents pending trial. Mr. Magagula was hanged on 26 December 1999 after being accusing of bewitching roosters. Four people who had been pecked by roosters belonging to Magagula complained of headaches and died shortly after. A chief of the local Clau-Clau tribal trust issued instructions that all roosters be killed and he established a committee to investigate the deaths of the four people who had been pecked. The committee consulted a sangoma who accused Mr. Magagula of being responsible for bewitching the roosters. [18]

In December 2000 Dumisani Zondi reported that 76 year old Mrs. Maria Ngcobo was hacked to death in Khokhwane, Pietermaritzburg (Kwazulu-Natal) by an unknown assailant. Her grandson Sibusiso Ntombela (26) was shot. His body was discovered 150m from his home. Mrs. Ngcobo was in her home with her two grandchildren Andile (8) and Siyabonga Ntombela (6). Andile and Siyabonga escaped through a window and ran to fetch their neighbours. Andile sustained severe lacerations to her face and neck. Her sister Sibongile (14) told journalists she believed the attack was prompted by continuous accusations that her grandmother was practising Witchcraft. Zondi reported that neighbours suspected the attack was linked to the death of a local policeman who had died from an unknown cause. [19]

In February 2001 an unnamed 60 year old woman from Gumbani village in Malamulela, Limpopo Province, was accused by villagers of being a Witch and of involvement in the death of a local headman who died after an illness. Her home was set on fire and her family was expelled from the village. The woman laid charges against the villagers responsible for malicious damage to property and public violence at a local police station. The family was placed in protective custody. [20]

In April four Limpopo Province farm labourers appeared in the Duiwelskloof Court on a charge of accusing Khensani Makhubele (31) of being a Witch after hiring a prophet in September 2000. The four accused painted Makhubele white and she was dismissed from work. The accused were released with a warning and the case was postponed for trial to July 10. [21]

In August a 67 year old man named Amoni Mokoena who was accused by a mob of being a Witch was burned to death in Masoyi village near Hazyview in Limpopo Province by angry school children and community members who were convinced he had bewitched a schoolgirl. The group forced Mokoena from his home, tied him up with wire, and took him to an isolated spot where they assaulted him before setting him alight. Mokoena, a night watchman at the same school the girl attended, was accused of having turned her corpse into a zombie. [22]

In October 2001 Sekororo village, near Tzaneen (Limpopo Province) was placed under police surveillance after seven people and two goats were struck by lightning and killed. Lowveld police spokesperson Inspector Moatshe Ngoepe is alleged to have said to a reporter, “It is common for violence to erupt in villages if people believe such things are as a result of witchcraft”. [23]

In March 2002 a Durban (Kwazulu-Natal Province) police sergeant shot Lina Magagula at her home with his service pistol after accusing her of killing his father, mother and son through Witchcraft. Magagula was seriously wounded. [24]

In May 2002 pupils at Makgongwana High School in Makanye village, Polokwane (Limpopo Province) attacked a 15-year-old whom they accused of “casting a spell to make more than 20 girls faint during break”. Pupils allegedly smashed the windscreen of a police van with stones. The accused was taken into protective custody. [25]

In January 2003 13 people in Polokwane (Limpopo Province) were arrested after attacking Mr. Matome Molele (67), whom they accused of Witchcraft. Police initially arrested 30 people who participated in burning down five houses in their attack on Molele. Molele managed to flee without being injured. [26]

In March 2003 Riot Hlatshwayo reported that parents of pupils at Madlala High School in Justicia village, Bushbuckridge (Limpopo Province) were raising money to hire a sangoma in Swaziland to "sniff out" a Witch whom pupils were convinced was responsible for bewitching their school. After several deaths and incidences of violence at the school, pupils boycotted classes for two weeks until police formed a committee to investigate their concerns. Captain Moatshe Ngoepe of Mopani police warned the community that “witch-sniffing” was illegal. He told reporters that terrified villagers had killed a baboon believing it to be a Witch's familiar. [27]

After 2003 the number of reported incidences of Witchcraft related violence increased quite dramatically. Two of these reports, ‘Witchcraft made donkey do it’ (February 2004) [28] and ‘Monkey scares village’ (November 2004) [29] covered stories involving the alleged use of animals by Witches to bring harm to individuals and villages. They are reminiscent of the themes explored in ‘Bewitched Rooster’ (2000) [18] in which Simon Magagula, accused of bewitching roosters to peck people, was hung from a graveyard tree, and ‘Bewitched School’ (2003) [27] in which a baboon was killed because villagers believed it to be a Witches familiar.

In ‘Witchcraft made donkey do it’ an Mpumalanga inyanga (traditional herbalist) claimed Witchcraft made a donkey maul Ditgetho Motjieng's face. Bushbuckridge inyanga, Daniel Ngobeni said to reporter Riot Hlatshwayo, "A witch might have sent the donkey to attack the boy... But you are one of those educated people who believe there is no witchcraft, so I won't tell you how it happens, because it is a big secret." [28] In ‘Monkey scares village’ villagers believing a monkey to be a Witch’s relative searching for the Witch started to accuse each other of Witchcraft after one of the women claimed she saw a monkey herd cattle out of her yard.

In June 2004 a Phalaborwa tribal authority in Limpopo Province refused to grant permission for a Witch hunt after local women complained that evil spirits were raping them at night. [30]

In July Limpopo villagers demanded their local Induna (tribal leader) Daniel Magomani, account for R300 they raised for a Witch-sniffing ceremony in 1996. The money was allegedly collected to hire a car with which to evict a villager accused of using Witchcraft. [31] Also in July an Mpumalanga man slit the throat of grand-mother Grace Chabalala (80) in front of shocked neighbours at her home in Peterskraal near Groblersdal after accusing her of bewitching him. [32]

Hlalaphi Malandula (45) was hacked and stabbed with butcher's knives, doused in petrol and set alight at her home in Khumbula tribal trust near White River in Mpumalanga Province in August by her own family, including her father, two sisters, brother and cousin, because they believed she had used Witchcraft to kill someone. [33] Also in August a Mozambican-born man was banished from Rhulani village near Tzaneen (Limpopo Province) after neighbours accused him of using Witchcraft to drive three people to commit suicide. [34]

In September Umtata High Court Judge Irma Schoeman sentenced Siyabulela Ndoda for the murder of his grandmother, Mamlothana Ndoda, and Manqoma Novumile Tyebisa on the night of April 4 2000. Ndoda claimed he had contacted a witchdoctor to find the cause of the illness and death of his two children and the witchdoctor had identified the two women as Witches. [35]

In November 2004 Bismark Lubisi reported that Pastor Mphatsi Mazibuko of the First Apostolic church in Langeloop, south of Malelane in Mpumalanga Province, went into hiding with relatives after his village accused him of Witchcraft and burned down his house on October 31. Villagers accused him of bewitching a 17 year old girl who had died of unknown causes. [36]

Part III. – 2005 to 2007

In February 2005, 90 teenagers in Polokwane (Limpopo Province) appeared in the Giyani Magistrate's court after they torched 39 houses in four villages in an area north-east of Polokwane. Police reported that the vigilante crowd told the occupants of the houses “you are a witch!” before setting their homes on fire. When some of the youths opened fire on the police who were trying to stop them police returned fire, killing Solly Mathebula (20). [37]

In March a 15 year old Limpopo girl from Timbavati village tried to drink paraffin three times after being expelled from Timbavati Primary School because teachers and pupils believed she was a Witch. “The girl was accused of writing a letter, placing it on the teacher's desk, and telling her friends that the teacher would die if she opened it.” When confronted, the girl allegedly confessed to practising Witchcraft. The girls grandfather sent her to Masingitana High School the following year but teachers there also allegedly “refused to touch her books”. [38]

Also in March 2005 an Mpumalanga family burnt and buried a doll they were told was placed at their front door to bewitch them. They were assisted by a local prophet, Knowledge Makhubela, who performed a cleansing ceremony for the family. A family member named by reporters as Shadow Tshabalala allegedly said in an interview, “Though we all know that witchcraft exists, the Constitution doesn't recognise it, so we have to let this incident slide”. [39]

In April villagers of Giyani in Limpopo Province accused a rooster and hen of being Witch's familiars. The rooster and hen were allegedly smeared with ochre. One resident, Josiah Rikhotso, suggested the rooster and hen be killed to identify the Witch. He said, “Every black person knows that if an animal used for witchcraft is killed, then the owner of that animal dies magically”. Giyani police confiscated the chickens. Captain Maano Sadike of Mopani police is reported to have said, “We're afraid these chickens may spark a witch hunt in an already volatile area”. [40]

In August Micas Khoza (65) was attached with a panga and locked inside a burning house in Bushbuckridge (Mpumalanga) by his two grandchildren aged between 12 and 16 after they accused him of being a Witch. [41]

In September Pietermaritzburg police in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands offered a reward of up to R25 000 for information which could lead to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the death of two middle-aged sisters, Madudu Shandu (57) and Bongekile Zungu (59) who had been accused of being Witches. [42]

Also in September a Howick magistrate's court in Kwazulu-Natal granted bail of R10 000 to a man believed to have been involved in the death of Bheki Sibiya, a traditional healer in the Mpophomeni area in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands. Sibiya was attacked by members of his community who accused him of practising Witchcraft. He was stoned to death. [43]

In October a Pretoria man named William Nkuna accused the family of his alleged victim, Frances Rasuge, of trying to bewitch him. He stated, “I found out the Rasuge family had gone to a witch doctor in order to bewitch me because they blamed me for her disappearance”. In Nkuna's trial for the alleged murder of Frances Rasuge he told the Mmabatho Circuit Court sitting in Ga-Rankuwa that Rasuge had been forced by a police Captain named Simon Letseka to hire a hitman to kill him. [44]

Also in October, 22 people were arrested in NwaXinyama village near Makhado (Limpopo Province) and charged with public violence after attempting to stone a grieving father at his daughter's funeral. Superintendent Ailwei Mushavhanamadi of the Vhembe police in Limpopo clarified that his daughter had died in a motor car accident but the mob had accused her father of using Witchcraft to cause her death. Mushavhanamadi said, “her father had also believed someone had cast a spell on her, and was conducting a spell of his own to bewitch whoever had caused her death”. The man's identity was withheld by the police. [45]

In November police in Tzaneen (Limpopo Province) arrested 17 people after a mob attacked a 73 year old woman at Sasekani village, accusing her of Witchcraft. Mopani police spokesperson Superintendent Moatshe Ngoepe said, “It is very disturbing that even though we are more than 10 years into democracy, people continue to call each other witches and take the law into their own hands”. Suspects were charged with public violence, attempted murder, defeating the ends of justice, malicious damage to property and contravening the Suppression of Witchcraft Act. [46]

In December two men who admitted they killed Alice Mamtshulu Mntungwa because they thought she was a Witch received 15-year sentences in Pietermaritzburg (Kwazulu-Natal). The article reported, “Judge Vuka Tshabalala said that because Siphele Jobe Sithole and his friend Thokoza Mvelase (both 20) are from a rural background and genuinely believed the elderly woman was a witch, they deserve a lesser sentence of 15 years' imprisonment, instead of life”. [47]

And also in December 2005 Neville Maakana reported that a 14 year old schoolgirl had told her community that she had been abducted by Witches at night and forced to drink human blood. She accused a 73 year old woman in Sasekani village near Tzaneen (Limpopo) of being one of the Witches, claiming to have seen zombies at her house. The old woman was ordered to leave the village but she refused, challenging community leaders to hire a sangoma to conduct a proper Witch hunt.

On October 31 villagers attacked the woman. Seventeen people were arrested in connection with the incident. [48]

News coverage of incidences of Witchcraft related violence between 2000 and 2005 has not been independently verified. It is not know to what extent justice was served in every cited instance. The fact that Witch hunts continued to make news headlines both prior to and after 2005 only begins to reveal the actual scale of these atrocities.

Journalist Chris Makhaye reported in The Sunday Independent of October 2, 2005,

Hidden in the dry, rocky flatlands of Limpopo Province lies a small village called Helena. With its dusty roads and cattle pens it looks like any other village in the region. But it has an air of mystique. Neighbouring villagers call it Tulo Yabaloyi - Place of Witches. Some say Helena is populated by sorcerers who are capable of sending deadly thunderstorms to wreak havoc on an enemy's home, or of using muti to bring about misfortune on their rivals. But its residents call it a sanctuary for those who have been falsely accused of witchcraft. There are 42 households lining Helena's dusty road. They come from different parts of Limpopo Province and were forced by circumstances to settle there. Each family has a tale to tell about how they were uprooted from their daily lives because they were accused of witchcraft. [49]

Witch hunts in South Africa made international headlines again in 2006 when the U.S. Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report found,

There were reports of killings allegedly linked to the continued targeting of purported practitioners of witchcraft, particularly in Limpopo Province. In August 2005 an elderly couple in Umlazi (KwaZulu-Natal province) suspected of practicing witchcraft were beaten, stabbed, and burned to death. Six persons were arrested and charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and arson. The trial was ongoing at the end of the period covered by this report. Two men accused of the April 2005 killing of their grandmother in Ritavi, Limpopo, were convicted and sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment in April 2006. In February 2006 a mob of approximately ninety youths set alight thirty-nine houses in four villages in Limpopo, accusing the occupants of being witches. Thirteen suspected ringleaders were charged and were due to appear in court in August. In March 2006 a group of boys burned the house of a sixty-six-year- old woman accused of witchcraft. The investigation was ongoing at the end of the reporting period. [50]

In March 2006 Limpopo Premier Sello Moloto, in a speech delivered on Human Rights Day to launch the Provincial Crime Prevention Strategy, drew attention to ongoing Witchcraft related violence,

...challenges remain with regard to such crime categories as witchcraft related violence, racially motivated killings, child and women abuse, and domestic violence. As government we will intensify the implementation of this strategy by ensuring that harsh sentences are given to those found guilty of these crimes. [51]

Also in March 2006 Limpopo MEC for Safety, Security and Liaison Ms. Machwene Semenya, outlining research and planning programs to be initiated in the 2006/7 financial year, included in her outline, “a survey on the role our communities can play in reducing ritual killings and crimes related to witchcraft”. [52]

In the 2007 ‘Fourth Sitting of the Third Democratic Legislature of Limpopo’, Premier Moloto again made pointed reference to Witchcraft, Witchcraft violence and ritual 'muti' murders by admitting governments failure to curb ongoing Witchcraft related violence.

The one security area we are not succeeding in as a province to put under control is that of alleged ritual killings and witchcraft. In the recent past we have seen the escalation of these heinous acts to uncontrollable proportions. The provincial government had to organise a multi-stakeholder conference in order to co-ordinate our response to this challenge. The most important resolutions from this conference include the need to establish a police specialised investigating unit focusing on occultrelated activities, the review of legislation dealing with this matter and the scaling up of public awareness programmes. We hope and trust that the implementation of the conference resolutions will go a long way in curbing this scourge. We have already discussed the matter of legislative amendment with the Minister of Justice and she promised to deal with the matter. [53]

In May 2007, after visiting Thohoyandou Prison in Limpopo, Parliament’s Correctional Services committee chairman Dennis Bloem accused Magistrates of wasting taxpayers’ money by sending women to prison for calling others Witches. [54]

In June 2007, the Office of the Premier of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, leaked a draft Witchcraft Suppression Bill which threatened to undermine the freedoms and rights already guaranteed to an existing religious minority – Witches - by deliberately criminalizing and prohibiting said religious minority’s constitutionally guaranteed right to exist and to practice their religion. The Bill sought to suppress Witchcraft and to imprison self-defined Witches on the assumption of automatic inference of criminality.

In submitted formal objections to the proposed Suppression Bill the South African Pagan Council (SAPC) and the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA), supported by Pagans across the country who define themselves as Witches, criticised the Mpumalanga legislature’s decision to base their Bill on a piece of Apartheid legislation – the Witchcraft Suppression Act (Act 3 of 1957 as amended by Act 50 of 1970).

The Bill elicited outrage from traditional healers as well. According to Enmarie Potgieter, High Priestess of the Coven of the Wheel (COW) and member of both the SAPRA and the SAPC,

“It took some time to explain to the THO that we are not going to budge from calling ourselves Witches, and after explaining the history - they were able to see that they are currently in a very similar position. (i.e. a subtle smear campaign against traditional healing practices). They are completely livid that the bill contains incorrect definitions for words such as Muti, (which means medicine) and which can not be anything other than good by definition. Thanks to the media, the word 'muti' can now denote anything from human tissue to herbal concoctions. Traditional Healers will tell you how passionately they feel about the fact that their perception of muti is not the same as that which is put forward in the media, especially by those critical of Traditional Healing practices.” [55]

The Mpumalanga Witchcraft Suppression Bill defined muti as: Muti means any mixture of herbs, water, woolen cuffs etc, used by wizards, igedla, inyanga, African Churches, Foreign traditional Healers, etc for the purposes of curing diseases, helping others who come to consult to them for whatever purposes and including causing harm to others or their properties. [56]

Traditional healers offered the following alternative definition for muthi:

'Umuthi' - means an object or substance used in traditional health practice for the purpose of:
a) The diagnosis, treatment or prevention of a physical or mental illness; or
b) For any curative or therapeutic purpose, including the maintenance or restoration of physical or mental health or wellbeing in humans. [57]

In 'Healers, pagans oppose new witchcraft bill', published in the Sowetan on 18 July 2007, Riot Hlatshwayo reported,

About 50 THO members, led by its national president, Nhlavana Maseko, met the Local Government and Housing Department. Maseko said they were opposed to definitions such as umuthi and ubuthi. He said umuthi was a substance used in traditional health practice to diagnose, treat and prevent physical or mental illness, whereas ubuthi was used in the application of negative energy with the intention to kill or harm. Maseko said the proposed bill did not differentiate between “witchdoctors” and traditional healers. “Let there be two bills, not one,” he argued. “Witchdoctors and traditional healers are not even on the same platform because they are different,” he said. His organisation accused the government of failing to consult all stakeholders. [58]

Pagan Witches opposed the Bill on the grounds that it incorrectly defined Witchcraft as... the secret use of muti, zombies, spells, spirits, magic powders, water, mixtures, etc, by any person with the purpose of causing harm, damage, sickness to others or their property. [59]

The South African Pagan Rights Alliance offered an alternative definition of Witchcraft...

Witchcraft is a religion and magical occupation that employs the use of sympathetic magic, ritual, herbalism and divination.

The revelation of the existence of self-defined Witches was met with both shock and surprise by traditional healers themselves. In 2004 hundreds of Traditional Healers, members of the Traditional Healer's Organisation (THO) were invited by Pagans - many of whom defined their personal spiritual path as Witchcraft – to celebrate 10 years of religious freedom in South Africa on Freedom Day, 27 April 2004 at Zoo Lake. [60] The guest speakers of this 'Pagan Freedom Day' event included Dr N. Maseko, the President of the THO, an organisation currently representing over 20 000 traditional healers in South Africa. Although traditional healers knew who Pagans were, they did not realize that many Pagans were also Witches.

In 'Bewitched or de-witched?' published in the Mail & Guardian on 20 July 2007, Tshwarelo eseng Mogakane and Sydney Masinga reported,

There was confused silence when Luke Martin told a group of traditional healers this week that he is a witch. Phephsile Maseko, the national coordinator of the Traditional Healers' Organisation (THO), quickly had to explain that some white people consider witchcraft to be a religion and were open about practising it. There was still some apprehension, however, because the healers come from communities where witchcraft is considered evil and where people have been evicted from their villages or even killed because they were suspected of being witches. Now here was someone standing up and admitting to being one. [61]

The THO presented their own definition of 'witchcraft' in their comments in objection to the Suppression Bill.

Witchcraft is:
(a) Any act or conduct, which causes or leads to the infliction of injury, illness, or even spiritual damage to another person through the use of ubuthi or other destructive means;
(b) Any act or conduct that leads to the death of another person through ukuthakatha [the practice of witchcrafts];
(c) Any act or conduct which is perceived by the community as unnatural and capable of causing danger or damage to the person or property of another through some negative energy;
(d) Any conduct or act which cannot be explained in western scientific terms but which is perceived or believed to exist and can be proved so to exist by those trained in African Science through diagnosis. [62]

Luke Martin, Convenor of the SAPC and member of SAPRA, is quoted as responding,

"My idea of the word 'witch' is different from the others". In objecting to the Bill Martin said, "It is a mirror image of the apartheid-era's Witchcraft Suppression Act. It discriminates against the practices of minority groups." [63]

Martin’s sentiments were echoed by hundreds of Pagans who lodged personal objections against the Bill with the Office of the Mpumalanga Legislature. Martin coordinated objections against the Bill and submitted many of these objections in person on behalf of South African Pagans.

The Suppression Bill contradicted 11 clauses enshrined in the Bill of Rights, Chapter Two of the Constitution of South Africa, by denying self-defined Witches the right to dignity, equality, religious freedom, expression, association and the right to choose their trade, occupation or profession freely. The Act would in effect have denied equal citizenship to South Africans who define their religion as Witchcraft.

The SAPRA and the SAPC presented an alternative ‘Witchcraft Protection Bill’ to the Mpumalanga legislature for consideration as a replacement to the current Suppression Bill. [64] Chapter 9 (4) of the Constitution of South Africa makes provision for the drafting of legislation to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination. Both Pagan organisations called on the Mpumalanga Legislature to protect selfdefined Witches, protect Witchcraft as a belief system and religion, and prohibit discrimination against persons claiming to be Witches, or alleged to be Witches or practicing Witchcraft.

The SAPC and the THO met with the Mpumalanga Legislature and presented petitions and documents requesting that this draft legislation be scrapped. The SAPRA called on the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development to support the enactment of legislation to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination, to protect and advance persons or categories of persons (Witches) disadvantaged by unfair discrimination, and to promote the achievement of equality for a specific historically disadvantaged religious minority. The SAPRA also submitted objections to the MEC C. Mashego-Dlamini of the Mpumalanga Provincial Government, appealing to the MEC to consider the ramifications of permitting acceptance of the Mpumalanga Witchcraft Suppression Bill on residents of Mpumalanga Province who do define themselves as Witches and who do define their religion as Witchcraft.

In July 2007 the SAPC started an international petition against the Suppression Bill. [65]. Since 24 July Pagans and Witches from almost every continent have signed the petition in support of South African Witches against the proposed draft.

The Mpumalanga Provincial Government and Legislature has chosen not to pursue the draft Bill and has given assurance that the Mpumalanga Provincial Government and Legislature have absolutely no intention of pursuing the draft Witchcraft Suppression Bill or of discriminating against the religious minority of Witchcraft.

Witchcraft is already a recognised belief system and religion in South Africa and as such, Witches are already accorded all rights, protections and privileges enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of South Africa [Act 108 of 1996] by virtue of South African citizenship.

The Mpumalanga Premier's Office has stated that the Mpumalanga Provincial Government have a mandate to draft legislation to:
(i.) prevent ritual killings, and
(ii.) prevent accusations of witchcraft which lead to violence.

The only existing special investigative Occult-related Crimes Unit (ORCU), first established in 1992 to investigate “occult-related crimes”, was dissolved and incorporated into existing law enforcement services in 2001. During its 10 year existence during which it investigated in excess of 300 cases of muti-related crimes (murders committed for the express purpose of harvesting human body parts), the ORCU’s mandate included:

a) investigating occult-related crime,
b) in conjunction with the South African Police Service Crime Intelligence, promoting the prevention of occult-related crime,
c) managing the use and dissemination of information on occult-related crime, and
d) rendering services to victims of occult-related crime.

The ORCU defined ‘occult-related crime’ as,

…any human conduct that constitutes any legally recognized crime, the modus operandi of which relates to or emanates primarily from any belief or seeming belief in the occult, witchcraft, satanism, mysticism, magic, esotericism and the like. Included in the scope of occult-related crime are ritual muti/medicine murders, witch purging, witchcraft-related violence and sect-related practices that pose a threat to the safety and security of the Republic of South Africa and/or its inhabitants. [66]

Between 1992 and 2001 the South African Police Service’s Occult Related Crime Unit focused its attention primarily on investigating muti-murders; ritualized murders in which human body-parts are harvested for use in magic and to a lesser extent on crimes committed by alleged Satanists. But according to the U.S. Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report for South Africa for 2006, "There were no reports of killings linked to the practice of Satanism. The government does not keep records on cases of reported witchcraft and satanic killings. These cases are investigated and prosecuted as homicide by law enforcement officials." [67]

South African Law does not validate the existence of Witchcraft because the existence and efficacy of magic can not be proven. A belief in Witchcraft provides its own cultural and religious reasons as ‘proof’, but belief in Witchcraft can not be said to be irrefutable evidence of its existence. The law does however recognise that criminal acts can be motivated by a belief in Witchcraft and magic. The Witchcraft Suppression Act 3 of 1957 as amended by the Witchcraft Suppression Amendment
Act 50 of 1970 makes it an offense to both profess knowledge of Witchcraft or to use Witchcraft to cause death, injury, grief, disease or damage to a person. [68] The Act does not actually define Witchcraft. Definition in a court of law must be derived by referring to so-called expert testimony.

One must of necessity explore the underlying belief systems that motivate a belief in the Witch as a willing and unwitting agent of misfortune, tragedy and death. One also cannot ignore the role of Traditional healers, Witch-doctors, Churches, the Occult-related Crime Unit and the Witchcraft Suppression Act in perpetuating ideologies of conflict in South Africa.

A Pagan Witches TouchStone
Chapter One References:

[1] Report of the Ralushai Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Violence and Ritual Murder in the
Northern Province, 1995
[2] Ibid.
[3] ‘AIDS, Witchcraft, and the Problem of Power in Post-Apartheid South Africa’, Adam Ashforth
[4] Report of the Ralushai Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Violence and Ritual Murder in the
Northern Province, 1995
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] The State Response to Domestic Violence and Rape: South Africa - November 1995 by Human Rights
Watch
[8] Commission on Gender Equality
[9] ‘The Thohoyandou Declaration on Ending Witchcraft Violence’
[10] Safety at stake over witchcraft accusations by Pinkie Mbowane
The Sowetan - 31 March 1999
[11] Witchcraft Violence: We Have A Plan
Issued by the Commission on Gender Equality Communications Unit on 29 March 1999.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Truth and Reconciliation Commission Amnesty Hearing 12 July 1999
Submission by Prof V N Ralushai
[14] Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Amnesty Committee
Volume Six • Section One • Chapter Three
[15] Ten more up for 'witch-hunt' by Dumisane Lubisi
African Eye News Service 20 September 2000
[16] ‘16 up for attacking 'witch'
South African Press Association – 31 October 2000
[17] Six dead in KZN 'witch' attack
South African Press Association - 10 October 2000
[18] ''Bewitched rooster' case set for trial' by Zenzele Kuhlase
African Eye News Service - 2 November 2000
[19] 'Brutal attack on 'witch'' by Dumisani Zondi
African Eye News Service - December 2000
[20] ''Witch' hounded from village' by Dumisane Lubisi
African Eye News Service - 5 February 2001
[21] One convicted of painting girl
African Eye News Service - 5 April 2001
[22] 'NProv 'witch' burned alive'
South African Press Association - 14 August 2001
[23] 'Witch-hunt feared in village'
African Eye News Service - 25 October 2001
[24] Off-duty cop shoots 'witch'
South African Press Association - 25 March 2002
[25] 'Teen 'witch' attacked' by Riot Hlatshwayo
African Eye News Service - 22 May 2002
[26] 13 held for attack on 'witch'
South African Press Association - 2 January 2003
[27] ''Bewitched school': Kids return' by Riot Hlatshwayo
African Eye News Service - 10 March 2003
[28] ‘'Witchcraft' made donkey do it’ by Riot Hlatshwayo
African Eye News Service – 9 February 2004
[29] ‘'Monkey' scares village’ by Bismark Lubisi
African Eye News Service - 11 November 2004
[30] ‘No to witch-hunts’ by Merriam Nekhavambe
African Eye News Service – 1 June 2004
[31] ‘Induna in tight spot over money’ by Victor Mashele
African Eye News Service – 1 July 2004
[32] ‘'Man slits granny's throat' by Riot Hlatshwayo
African Eye News Service - 29 July 2004
[33] ''Witch' killing: 5 in court' by Jabu Mhlabane
African Eye News Service - 3 August 2004
[34] 'Suicides blamed on witchcraft' by Brilliant Mthembi
African Eye New Service - 23 August 2004
[35] ‘Man shot 'witch' gran dead’
South African Press Association - 22 September 2004
[36] 'Pastor hiding from villagers' by Bismark Lubisi
African Eye News Service - 9 November 2004
[37] '90 in court for fiery witchhunt'
South African Press Association - 28 February 2005
[38] 'Teen witch just wants to die' by Neville Maakana
African Eye News Service - 16 March 2005
[39] 'Family burns 'witch-doll'' by Bismark Lubisi
African Eye News Service - 22 March 2005
[40] ''Witch' chickens cause flutter' by Riot Hlatshwayo and Kulani Mavunda
African Eye News Service - 19 April 2005
[41] 'Kids burn grandpa to death' by Riot Hlatshwayo
African Eye News Service – 22 August 2005
[42] 'Reward for 'witch' killers'
South African Press Association - 28 September 2005
[43] ''Witch killer' granted bail'
South African Press Association - 29 September 2005
[44] 'Family 'tried to bewitch me''
South African Press Association - 10 October 2005
[45] 'Mob stones father at grave' by Riot Hlatshwayo
African Eye News Service - 17 October 2005
[46] 'Mob stone 'witch', 73' by Riot Hlatshwayo
African Eye News Service - 3 November 2005
[47] 'Witch killers get 15yrs' by Mokgadi Seabi
The Witness - 2 December 2005
[48] 'Teen 'forced to drink blood'' by Neville Maakana
African Eye News Service - 6 December 2005
[49] ‘Banished to Helena’ by Chris Makhaye published in The Sunday Independent - October 2, 2005
[50] U.S. Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report for 2006
[51] Limpopo Premier Mr. Sello Moloto - Launch of crime prevention strategy, Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane - 21 March 2006
[52] Limpopo MEC for Safety, Security and Liaison Ms Machwene Semenya - Limpopo Department of Safety, Security and Liaison Budget Vote 2006/07 - 28 March 2006
[53] State of the Province Address by Limpopo Premier Mr. Sello Moloto to the Fourth Sitting of the Third Democratic Legislature of Limpopo - 15 February 2007
[54] 'Prison team shocked by women held for ‘witches’, petty offences'
The Herald Online - 12 May 2007
[55] Enmarie Potgieter, High Priestess of the Coven of the Wheel (COW) (2007)
[56] Mpumalanga Witchcraft Suppression Bill
[57] Submission to the Mpumalanga Legislature by the Traditional Healers Organisation
[58] 'Healers, pagans oppose new witchcraft bill' by Riot Hlatshwayo. The Sowetan - 18 July 2007
[59] Mpumalanga Witchcraft Suppression Bill – definition of Witchcraft
[60] 'Pagan Freedom Day'
[61] 'Bewitched or de-witched?' by Tshwarelo eseng Mogakane and Sydney Masinga. Mail & Guardian – 20 July 2007
[62] Submission to the Mpumalanga Legislature by the Traditional Healers Organisation (THO) – THO definition of Witchcraft
[63] Luke Martin, Convenor of the SAPC addressing a delegation of traditional healers aligned to the THO
[64] ‘Witchcraft Protection Bill’
[65] SAPC Petition against the Mpumalanga Witchcraft Suppression Bill (2007)
[66] South African Police Services Occult-related Crime Unit's definition of Occult-related crime.
[67] U.S. Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report for 2006
[68] The Witchcraft Suppression Act 3 of 1957 as amended by the Witchcraft Suppression Amendment Act 50 of 1970
Extract: Witchcraft Suppression Act (Act 3 of 1957 as amended)
…any person who:-
(a) Imputes to any other person the causing, by supernatural means, of any disease in or injury to any other person or thing, or who names or indicates any other person as a wizard;
(b) Professes or pretends to use any supernatural power, witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration, imputes the cause of death of, injury or grief to, disease in, damage to or disappearance of any person or thing to any other person;
(c) Employs or solicits any witchdoctor, witch-finder or any other person to name or indicate any person as a wizard;
(d) Professed a knowledge of witchcraft, or to use the charms, and advises any person how to bewitch,
injure or damage any person or thing, or supplies any person with pretended means of witchcraft;
(e) On the advice of any witchdoctor, witch-finder or any other person or on the ground of any pretended knowledge of witchcraft, uses or causes to be put into operation any means or process which, in accordance with such advice or his own belief, is calculated to injure or damage any person or thing;
(f) For gain pretends to exercise or use any supernatural power, witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or
conjuration, or undertakes to tell fortunes, or pretends from his skill in or knowledge of any occult science to discover where and in what manner anything supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found; Shall be guilty of an offence and liable to conviction.