Elections: Tinyanga warn of ritual killings
MBABANE - The Traditional Healers Organisation has warned its membership and the public against associating themselves with ritual killings, as the national elections have started.
The organisation issued the warning during the commemoration of Freedom of Practice Day, held at Siteki over the weekend.
By definition, traditional healers, also known as tinyanga, are people who have gifts of healing using traditional medicine sourced from plants and wild animals. Some traditional healers have ancestral calling and divination powers, while others heal people through experience. Currently, there are 4 800 tinyanga registered with the organisation.
Killings
Bongani Maseko, President of the organisation, urged all traditional healers practicing in and out of the country to come out clear that ritual killings would by no means help anyone win elections or any other position.
He said ritual killings were considered sinful and criminal even by tinyanga. Maseko said the more tinyanga ruled out the perception that human body parts could help people win elections; the more people would know the truth about their work.
Worth noting is that both local and foreign media reported on numerous occasions that some traditional healers were arrested after they were found in passion of human body parts such as dry hands and skulls. However, it had never been established what the human body parts were used for. “Our message is that tinyanga do not use human body parts for whatever reason in their practice. People should, therefore, do away with the notion that tinyanga are associated with ritual killings. The notion was never true but only meant to tarnish our reputation. Tinyanga should come out in the open and practice freely so that they cannot be associated with ritual killings,” he said.
Maseko stated that the commemoration of the Freedom of Practice Day was a continuity after it was started in the early 1990s. He stated that the leadership also encouraged tinyanga to practice freely as they were no longer arrested like it used to happen before.
Worth noting is that tinyanga were arrested in numbers after failing to account for animal body parts found in their consultation room (tindumba).
Maseko shared that the event was attended by around 102 people, inclusive of tinyanga and members of the public.
He said the organisation considered the event a success because it was a first attempt at reviving it since 2015. Maseko stated that tinyanga will also be celebrating the African Medicine Day on August 31, 2023.
He said they were expecting more people because they would have more time for planning and that many of the approached sponsors had pledged to help them later.
He also thanked members of the organisation, the Maseko family and Dups for making the event a success.
The event started with a march under the guard of the Royal Eswatini Police Service, followed by kuphahla. The traditional healers then performed different kinds of dances.