Zoutnet: Putting the Spotlight on Muti-Murders & Traditional Healers...

Necklacing is Witchhunting: “The ANC-in-exile used traditional African witch-hunting methods in their camps to teach youths how to terrorise resistant township residents into submission to ANC-hegemony. On this photograph, youths at Camp Quatro in Angola were taught the traditional African witch's purgative powers of fire, i.e. the necklacing, placing a burning tyre around a victim's neck) of such a so-called 'cockroach'...Decapitation often is used.” -- Adriana Stuijdt, former Sunday Times Journalist [ANC's Africanisation Occult “Struggle” Politics: Witchcraft and the State in South Africa]

Providing further context to the issues raised in Open Letter to FIFA 2010 World Cup Teams: God vs. FIFA: Do you have the Honourable Courage to be a ‘Flying Scotsman’?; a collection of articles on the positive (Herbal Health Remedies) and negatives (Muti Murders) of African Occult Medicine; from Zoutnet.

According to a research article by Gérard Labuschagne, of the Investigative Psychology Unit, Serious and Violent Crime Component, Detective Service Head Office, South African Police Service, Features and Investigative Implications of Muti Murder in South Africa

Muti murder is defined as a murder in which body parts are removed from a live victim for the sole purpose of using the victim's body parts medicinally. These body parts are then often mixed with other ingredients or used alone to make a medicine called muti. Muti is a Zulu (umuthi) word meaning medicine. The victim usually dies as a result of blood loss from the wounds. While muti murders have occurred throughout history in South African culture, little is known about them and little research exists on the phenomenon. The term muti murder has been used interchangeably with the term ritual or sacrificial murder, often adding to confusion in terminology and definitions regarding these types of cases. This paper provides an overview of muti murder, explains the context in which these types of murder occur, defines the offenders and victims involved, and provides guidelines for investigating these types of murders.

Putting the Spotlight on Muti-Murders

Andries van Zyl, Zoutnet
Date: 11 August 2006

Well-known international documentary maker, producer and journalist Oliver G Becker photographed during his visit to Makhado (Louis Trichardt).

In his quest to gain more insight into the underlying psychological motivation behind muti murders, well-known international documentary maker, producer and journalist Oliver G Becker once again visited the Limpopo Province this week.

Although muti or ritual murders occur throughout sub-Saharan Africa, it is a subject not openly talked about and therefore not much is known about this type of so-called “occult aggression”. Since the gruesome discovery of a young African boy’s torso in the Thames River in September 2001 in London, Becker embarked on an intensive study of the subject of muti murders. The young boy, known to Scotland Yard only as Adam, was brutally killed and slaughtered for muti purposes, his arms, legs and head cut off. The incident placed the spotlight on the issue of muti murder as, up till then, it was totally uncommon in European countries.

Boasting a degree in political science, Becker has visited Africa and South Africa a couple of times for research purposes. He has produced several documentaries and a scientific paper on the matter. These include the documentary Muti Mord – die Schattenseite okkulten Glaubens in Afrika (Muti Murder – The Dark Side of Occult Belief Systems in Africa). An essay of the same title appeared in late 2005 in the scientific journal Hexen, Hexenverfolgung und magische Vorstellungswelten im modernen Afrika (“Witches, Witch Hunts and the Magic Realm of Imagination in Modern Africa”). More recently, Becker was tasked by the German government to produce and direct a documentary about the correlation between witchcraft and soccer in Africa, aired during the 2006 FIFA World Cup Soccer tournament in Germany. His subsequent documentary, Kick the Lion, premiered on May 8 in Frankfurt am Main.

The filming of Kick the Lion took Becker across Africa. The feature-length documentary tries to give an inside view of occult practices associated with soccer in Africa. In trying to achieve this, Becker visited Tanzania and Uganda in East Africa, Ghana in West Africa and Swaziland and South Africa in the south.

As for his most recent visit to South Africa and more specifically the Limpopo Province, Becker is busy with the production of a large-scale article about muti murders for a weekly magazine published in Switzerland, called Die Weltwoche (World Week).

“It’s very important for me to say that I’m not here in Africa to cover African primitivism. It’s more important for me to look behind the curtain in trying to find the deeper-lying psychological motivation and to figure out if there is a correlation between economic crisis and political unrest. To be more precise, I’m trying to find out if there is a correlation between this type of ritualistic killing (occult violence) and political unrest or economic crisis,” said Becker during an interview with the Zoutpansberger. Becker also had the unique opportunity to interview the survivor of the latest muti murder attempt, the 35-year-old Mashudu Munzhelele, who was abducted by a group of alleged ritual killers on Monday afternoon on the Punda Maria road. Munzhelele managed to fight off his attackers moments after they started trying to cut of his hand and tongue.

“My experience in or with Africa is not only focussed on crime and cruelties. I’ve always enjoyed the hospitality of the people across Africa and the great opportunity to get access to and learn about African cultures,” said Becker.

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“No muti to scare away police ....”

Date: 21 March 2003
Zoutnet

MUTALE - A traditional healer from Limpopo was stunned to see members of the police visiting his home and looking for a suspect, whom they say, was intending to visit him, seeking protection muti from police.

Matumba Nathaniel Mukosi (50) says he was sitting with his family when three police officers from Mutale visited his home one evening, asking him to help them arrest a suspected criminal. "One of the three officers told me they were looking for Thomas Bilankulu, of Tshapasha village. They said that he was suspected of breaking into spaza shops.

"The police told me they had been tipped off that he would come to my home for muti that would protect him from them. I told them I had not seen him. The police told me to help them in arresting Bilankulu, if he ever he comes, to which I agreed. However, I waited for the said suspect who never arrived," Mukosi said. Mukosi who has been a traditional healer since the age of thirteen, said he was shocked to learn that a suspect was coming for protection muti as healers could not provide such medicine.

"This is shocking to me because I do not know of any type of such muti that can protect one from the police."

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Traditional Healers Oppose Ritual Murders

Wilson Dzebu, Zoutnet
Date: 13 October 2006

Prominent local traditional healer Dr Mmbulaheni Neluvhola conducts sacrifices while pouring snuff on the ground to ask the ancestors’ interference in stopping traditional healers from taking part in ritual murder.

A large group of traditional healers demonstrated and conducted sacrifices in Thohoyandou while appealing to their ancestors to intervene to stop traditional healers from engaging themselves in ritual murder.

Members of the Vhembe Traditional Health Practitioners Association entered the old Venda Parliament Building on Friday, while singing and dancing sacred songs (malombo) in a bid to convey their important message.

Led by the famous local traditional healer, Dr Mmbulaheni Neluvhola, the more than 300 traditional healers publicly criticized traditional healers who commit ritual murder in order to use body parts to cure people. Said Dr Neluvhola: “Traditional healers who practice ritual murder should be locked up in jail for the rest of their lives. They are harming our wonderful profession, because our mission is to save life, not to kill. They are not real traditional healers but hooligans who have no respect for human life. How on earth can a traditional healer think that a cure is found from human flesh? That is barbarism at its worst. African herbs are what real traditional healers use to cure people. Effective herbal medication, proper customer care and good communication skills make one prosper in this industry.”

Neluvhola said there is a need to teach traditional healers about the mixing of herbs rather than resorting to ritual murder. “If they find out that their medicines are not working, they must not resort to the use of human flesh. They need to have good knowledge of herbs to produce a concoction with good results.” He further condemns businesspeople who think they would become rich by committing ritual murder. “A person can accumulate wealth through hard work, not ritual murder. They need to develop a business strategy that would attract customers and have relevant stock in their stores, not committing ritual murder. We will continue with our campaigns to warn our counterparts not to engage themselves in ritual murder.”

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“Traditional healers are part of modern era”

Wilson Dzebu, Zoutnet
Date: 31 March 2006

Well-known Limpopo traditional healer Dr Sylvester Hlati says traditional healers must live in modern times.

A prominent Limpopo traditional health practitioner, Dr Sylvester Hlati, says traditional healers should change and live in modern times. Dr Hlati has travelled to Germany, Switzerland, Holland and America where his traditional medicines are un-dergoing laboratory tests. He is widely known for his soft heart in assisting the poor financially. Last year, he held a Christmas party for over 600 poor children in the Malamulele area. He is fuming over traditional healers who use body parts to cure people. “Those who murder people for muti purposes are not real traditional healers. Traditional doctors use herbs to cure illness and they are forbidden to kill other human beings. The ethics of our practice is based on humanity and God brought us to save lives on this earth, not to kill.”

Hlati says it is also surprising to learn that some of the traditional healers who are alleged to have committed ritual murder are roaming the streets. “These people belong in jail because they are denting our wonderful profession. We will never allow them to go on with their cruel deeds because our profession ends up losing at the end of the day. A real traditional healer will never hurt even a fly because his practice is based on love and humanity …” In conclusion, Dr Hlati said traditional healers should refrain from dressing in a way that will scare clients. “We have to move away from the old dressing code where traditional healers dressed in dirty outfits that scare clients. We need to dress smartly and be clean at all times to create a lovely environment for our clients.”

» » » » [Zoutnet]