Police investigating criminal cases sometimes get a lead from an unlikely source — traditional healers or sangomas.
That was the case in the investigation into the murder of 28-year-old Hillary Gardee — the daughter of former EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee.
Police made their first arrest after one of the suspects, Sipho Mkhatshwa, allegedly went to consult a sangoma for “cleansing” after her killing.
It was the sangoma who allegedly set the police on Mkhatshwa’s tail.
These things work (muti) but they (sangomas) also work on people's beliefs. They make gullible people believe that they are that powerful. Sometimes it’s all in the mind of criminals that they are consulting a powerful sangoma, while there is no such. It’s all in the mind.
— Gogo Dineo Ndlanzi, African spiritual healer
African spiritual healer, teacher and trained sangoma Gogo Dineo Ndlanzi, said criminals visited sangomas for different reasons but did not believe a fully trained sangoma would provide muti to help criminals avoid being arrested, give them special “powers” when committing crimes, or cleanse them after killing someone.
“Real sangomas work in truth and light and do not do anything that would aid criminals. Those who do such things are witches and should not be described as sangomas,” Ndlanzi told TimesLIVE Premium.
She said sangomas who chose to work with criminals were operating on the “dark side”.
“A fully trained sangoma who went through a full set of initiation abides by the code of ethics and takes an oath to uphold integrity, truth and light. They will never support anything that causes destruction,” she said.
Ndlanzi explained the cleansing sought after a murder was to help clear the conscience of the killer, because the spirits of the deceased would haunt them. The cleansing was therefore sought to detach the perpetrator from what they did.
As a personal choice, Ndlanzi said she never helped criminals who had not paid for their crimes.
“I only help with cleansing after someone has served time for their crimes and takes responsibility for their crime,” she said.
She also said it was disheartening to see there were people who claimed to be sangomas but helped criminals.
“These criminals who usually seek such services have committed some of the most horrendous crimes, so it’s shocking to see there are people who would try to assist them to evade the law,” she said.
“If you kill someone, it will definitely have an impact on the quality of your life. So a cleansing ceremony is usually needed to remove that energy of darkness from your life,” she said.
Ndlanzi said the problem facing their vocation was that people were consumed by instant gratification and instant popularity instead of being impactful.
“Healers are now consumed by instant riches and no longer work in the integrity and light according to the code of ethics that we are guided by. We might not have a regulatory body, but we have an internal regulatory system — hence we go through a rigorous initiation process,” she said.
“Healers restore, balance and bring things back into harmony. A witch is a distracter, destroyer and killer. No legit sangoma would support anything that goes against our ethics. A sangoma knows that in their work, they must be guided,” Ndlanzi said.
Traditional healer and teacher Mthandazo Khumalo said there were different kinds of sangomas but also classified those helping criminals as witches. He said during consultations, clients need not tell sangomas what they are there for.
“When a murderer walks in here, my ancestors will tell me and instruct me not to assist that person, so I have to unfortunately let them go,” he said.
On the other hand, he said there are sangomas with the gift of seeing that a criminal will come to them for a consultation even before they arrive.
“They would then tip-off police that a wanted suspect who committed such a crime will be here tomorrow or whenever. Sometimes police take such tip-offs seriously, but sometimes they don’t,” he said.
In 2016, criminologist Dr Hennie Lochner, a senior lecturer at the University of SA, interviewed 21 former cash-in-transit robbers in jail. He found that only one did not use the services of a traditional healer.
Lochner believes the police could use robbers’ reliance on sangomas and muti to their advantage. He said sangomas could be used as informants.
In 2018, Dr Mahlogonolo Thobane from Unisa conducted research on the criminal career of armed robbers.
Among other things, her research found that criminals emphasised the importance of consulting a sangoma before perpetrating an armed robbery.
Criminals usually come with a lot of money that ‘normal’ clients would not bring or be willing to pay. Healers then forget their conscience and look at the huge sum of money in front of them, and forget about ethics.
— Sangoma aligned to the Sadc University of African Medicine
The criminals would then be given different kinds of muti, serving different purposes. Among the mutis, there are some for cleansing and chasing evil spirits, while there are others believed to make them as slippery as a fox. After application, the muti is said to make them invisible or to not look suspicious.
Ndlanzi admitted sangomas had these powers but cautioned that sometimes sangomas work with the psychology of criminals and don’t have the powers they claim.
“Yes, these things work (muti), but they (sangomas) will also work on people’s beliefs. They make gullible people believe they are that powerful. Sometimes it’s all in the mind of criminals that they are consulting a powerful sangoma, while there is no such. It’s all in the mind,” she said.
Another traditional healer who didn’t want to be named for fear of being victimised, said “the whole thing was driven by greed”.
She did agree some sangomas have muti that makes it possible for criminals to evade the law or become powerful when executing some criminal activities.
“It’s normal for a soldier to seek protection before going to war. If one is a Christian, they will ask for prayers or follow their cultural practices and rituals. The same is done by criminals. They seek help from sangomas operating on the dark side for assistance,” she said.
The sangoma, also aligned with the Sadc University of African Medicine, said those healers who aid criminals were operating on the dark side and said sometimes their actions were purely driven by money.
“Criminals usually come with a lot of money that most ‘normal’ clients would not bring or be willing to pay. Healers then forget their conscience and look at the huge sum of money in front of them, and forget about ethics,” she said.
The sangoma said among other things, the university aimed to bring back dignity to their profession and create a platform where healers are trained on ethics and the code of conduct they need to abide by.
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