ANC leader branded 'a witch'

2003-12-01 11:18

Zenzele Kuhlase

Malelane - A veteran ANC leader in Mpumalanga's Nkomazi region and his 10 children have been evicted from their home after a sangoma (witchdoctor) accused him of using witchcraft to maintain his position in the ANC and at the department of water affairs and forestry.

Boykie Msimango, 57, was forced to empty his R200 000 house in Block A of Nkomazi South of Malelane under heavy police guard on November 23 after villagers paid a sangoma to conduct a witch-sniffing ceremony in which Msimango was declared a witch. Once police escorted Msimango away, angry villagers waited for nightfall and then torched the house.

Msimango and his family had to spend two nights in a field with his 24 goats and four heads of cattle and surrounded with all his household goods, which the villagers had allowed him to take with him. He's since built a make-shift shack for him and his family.

A chief at Siboshwa tribal authority, Emmah Sambo, who organised the ceremony, explained that a sangoma claimed Msimango used black magic, which led to the deaths of three women and a man in the past five years as a sacrifice to evil beings to maintain his position. Msimango is distraught by the allegations.

"These people are driven by jealousy because I work, and I have cars that I use to do work for the Independent Electoral Commission," he said. "My dedication to working hard for these people and helping them register to vote has just turned into joke. I never killed anyone," he said.

Chairperson of the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) in the Nkomazi region, Abdul Malaza, urged the police to arrest all the concerned people, including the sangoma and chief, because it's against the law to identify anyone as a witch. "Gone are those days where people accused their neighbours for witchcraft just because they’re ugly, very old or grannies without teeth," he said. "We now live in a democratic, free society where everyone has the right to live where he wants," said Malaza.

He said Msimango deserved to be rewarded for his contribution to democracy. He said Msimango used his private bakkie to lobby for the ANC in the run-up to the first democratic elections of 1994. Tonga police spokesperson Inspector Amos Mashele said police are investigating charges of arson, malicious damage to property and intimidation.

He said Msimango would be given police protection pending any arrests.

- African Eye