Witches by Nigel Suckling

Author:Nigel Suckling [Suckling, Nigel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: G2 Rights Ltd
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter IV : Witchcraft Today

In Europe and North America witch-hunting in the literal sense more or less died with the eighteenth century but other parts of the world are less fortunate. Sub-Saharan Africa in particular currently seems to be experiencing a surge almost equal to the worst that went on in sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe. Thousands of suspected witches are dying each year at the hands of mobs and vigilantes.

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As before, the majority of victims are elderly women living on their own, often suspected of witchcraft simply because they have reached a respectable age while others have not. But significant numbers of men are also killed, usually traditional healers suspected of having turned to black magic.

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On 22 August 1999 the London Sunday Telegraph reported the Tanzanian Ministry of Home Affairs claim that up to 5,000 people were lynched for suspected witchcraft between 1994 and 1998. Police records were more optimistic but still showed almost 400 such deaths in an eighteen month period. Most of the victims were beaten or burned to death by gangs of youths. Some of the victims were accused simply on the grounds of having red eyes, a common consequence of years spent cooking in a smoky hut.

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In Zimbabwe the persecution has mirrored the country’s decline into economic chaos. Gordon Chavanduka, head of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association, said in 1999: “It’s obvious the cause is economic. The worse the economy gets, the more political tension there is in society, the more frustrated and frightened people get. They turn to witchcraft to gain riches or to hurt their enemies.”

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The hysteria is fuelled by widespread trade in human body parts across Africa for use in magic, such parts often being obtained by ritual human sacrifice. This was suspected in the case of the torso of a five- or six-year- old African boy washed up near Tower Bridge in London in September 2001. The investigation centred on Nigeria but reached as far as South Africa with a special appeal by Nelson Mandela. It remains unsolved.

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Credo Mutwa, internationally respected author on African traditions and himself a shamanic healer or sangoma, almost died when set upon by a witch-hunting mob in 1998. After being stabbed several times he lay helpless as they poured petrol to set him alight, but then he was saved by the very superstition that caused the attack. In his own words: “A young man shouted, ‘His ghost will haunt you.’ They vanished, leaving me like a fish on dry land.”

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South Africa’s Northern Province is suffering particularly from witch-hunting hysteria thanks to poverty, insecurity and a lively tradition of magical belief that make a dangerous cocktail. Any sudden misfortune there is liable to be blamed on black magic and ten villages have had to be established as safe havens for people accused of witchcraft that dare not return to their homes.

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Typical of the residents is 62-year-old Esther Rasesemola, who was accused of being a witch in 1990 after lightning struck her village. In her own words: “A group of people visited the Inkanga [traditional healer] to see who was responsible.

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