Witchcraft unit fights dark side of superstition

THE South African Police Service has a special unit dedicated to fighting witchcraft-related crimes. Dr Attie Lamprecht serves as commander of the occult crime unit and there are about 20 investigators who serve in it.

Obtaining crime statistics for occult-related offences is difficult because, although the specialised unit will investigate the crime, the result is recorded under generic categories such as murder and assault, along with all other such crimes.

Nevertheless, what evidence there is suggests the problem is serious. Under the Witchcraft Suppression Act (1957), it is a crime to label someone a witch because this usually leads to the murder or assault of the person.

An average of 140 people were convicted under the act each year from 2000 to 2004, and an average of 1 000 related charges were laid a year in that period. Most emanated from rural areas, which are often steeped in superstition.

A page dedicated to occult-related crimes on the police website lists about 40 “warning signs of possible destructive occult-related discourse” in children, including “Child writes backwards”, “Loss of sense of humour”, “Child is secretive and isolated” and “Child has an interest in computer [sic]”.

It was reported in the early 2000s that the unit had been disbanded, but the police confirmed that it merely went “underground” to avoid public attention that, it said, often acted as a hindrance to investigations.

Lieutenant-Colonel Tshume John Mbambo, a member of the occult task team in Mpumalanga, said the unit was working on about 30 cases, including “muti murders, morgue and grave robberies, mob killings of witches and blood drainage of victims”.

He said the crimes themselves were often horrific and brutal.

The South African Pagan Rights Alliance has taken issue with the act, which is being reviewed by the Law Reform Commission on the grounds that it discriminates against Wiccans, who practise witchcraft as a religion.

In April, the alliance ran a campaign in which it sought to highlight the victims of witch hunts in South Africa.