Two sangomas drown during ritual
THE PROFESSIONAL Association for Traditional Health Practitioners of South Africa (PATHPSA) has slammed what it regards as “reckless behaviour” by some traditional healers following the drowning of two members from Kimberley on January 27.
The two traditional healers 25-year-old Mpho Emily Mofokeng and 35-year-old Letlhogonolo “Chaka” Kock - drowned in the river near Barkly West on Saturday.
The two were part of a group that was performing traditional rituals in the river.
Northern Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Timothy Sam said the Barkly West police have opened an inquest docket following the incident.
Mofokeng’s bereaved family members expressed how traumatic it was for them to learn about her death after “hearing about it on the street”.
The family said that Mofokeng, who had been training a young initiate at her home in Five April Street for weeks, was participating in a graduation ceremony for her initiate at the river when she drowned.
According to them, Mofokeng’s body was spotted floating in the water a few metres from where she had disappeared.
They said they learned that fellow members of the group managed to retrieve her body but it was too late to save her.
The family said they were disappointed to hear that none of the traditional healers who were on the scene could swim.
Kock’s body was reportedly retrieved from the river by police divers hours later.
The devastated family said they have been left with more questions than answers.
They said no one came to inform them officially about the death of their loved one.
Mofokeng’s mother said she last saw her daughter on January 26, when she left for the ceremony.
She said she was informed about her daughter’s death by a passer-by on the street the following day.
“I just got off the taxi when I met an acquaintance, who asked me whether I had heard about my child’s death.
“I didn’t believe the news … I felt like I was losing my mind and went home to ask my sister to accompany me to the principal’s home for confirmation.
“Upon our arrival at the house, the principal told some of the drunk people in his yard to give me sugar water and was trying to hold me.
“I said that I didn’t want sugar water and pulled away. That’s when another drunk sangoma rudely said: ‘Mpho is dood so wat moet ons doen? (Mpho is dead so what must we do?)’.
“That is how the death was confirmed,” said the distraught mother.
“The last time I saw my daughter was on Friday morning when she came to fetch her sangoma outfit. She was so excited that she would be dancing the night away at the ceremony.
“Little did I know that that was the last time I would see her alive.”
She said Mofokeng was her first of three children and was the first in the family to take on the journey of a traditional healer.
She described her daughter as a peace-loving and helpful person.
An aunt of the deceased explained that Mofokeng started her journey when she was in high school.
She said her niece had since been practising as a traditional healer for seven years.
According to her, this was Mofokeng’s first initiate.
Sergeant Sam said the reason why the police had not gone to the family’s home to report the death was because they were informed that the family members were at the scene and had already identified the deceased.
The founder of PATHPSA, Benny Collin, condemned the incident and said it could have been avoided.
PATHPSA will soon be officially launched in the Northern Cape and already consists of more than 700 registered members.
Collin said the organisation has been on a mission to prevent such “unnecessary” and tragic events, especially during the rainy season when water levels are higher, but some healers ignore them.
Collin explained that some traditional healers don’t pray hard enough in order to enter the water cleansed.
Pointing to similar incidents in Warrenton and Delportshoop, Collin said the rivers also need cleansing.
“We need transparency regarding such incidents. If someone can just face the music in order for the truth to be revealed in court, such unnecessary deaths will be avoided,” he said.
“It is so sad that there is never anyone who is ready to tell the truth as to what happened exactly.”
Collin said PATHPSA recently hosted a workshop at the Mayibuye centre and they covered issues such as the dos and don'ts of going to rivers for rituals, as well as other important topics.
“We covered all the cases in which we traditional healers continue to get involved in the Province. We want the public to respect and trust us as traditional healers and to avoid being in the news for the wrong reasons.”