Man gets witch-wise
2003-04-10 06:44
Cape Town - The first person in South Africa to write a thesis on witchcraft received his doctorate in sociology-anthropology from the University of Stellenbosch (US) on Wednesday.
Khau Mavhungu works in the international office of the US and is the co-ordinator of the African initiative.
His thesis deals with the difference in witchcraft in two areas in Africa - Venda in South Africa and the Kom kingdom in Cameroon.
Mavhungu researched how witchcraft, and especially the violence associated with it, is interpreted in the two areas. He spent two years in Cameroon for this purpose.
"I selected these two regions because witchcraft is interpreted differently in each case. The Kom kingdom in Cameroon, which won its independence in 1961, has been involved with witchcraft over a long period and it is more openly practiced there. In Venda, witchcraft is being suppressed and is more violent."
He found that witchcraft was associated with less violence in the Kom kingdom because government policy was fairly sympathetic to witchcraft and that it was also recognised as a practice.
"South Africa would do well to revise its legislation on witchcraft," he added.
Mavhungu grew up in Hamandiwana in Venda, Limpopo. He obtained his BA degree from the University of Cape Town and later obtained a masters degree in political science at the US.
- Die Burger