A video of a traditional healer initiate allegedly being assaulted by her trainer in the Eastern Cape has sparked a debate about whether there is a need to regulate training.
The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) says while it may be challenging to regulate practices of traditional healers, there is a need to formulate guidelines.
CRL Rights Commission Eastern Cape commissioner Donna Makoboka has called for the development of a guide that will assist traditional healers.
The Herald reported that the trainer who assaulted the initiate recently appeared in court after the incident was captured on video.
“We know that there are procedures that we follow, but this one was not part of it. Assaulting to the point of punishing and humiliating a person is not part of it. It is not part of the culture,” said Makoboka.
She said there aren't any guidelines governing and regulating the industry and there was a need for traditional healers and trainers to come up with them.
“We can monitor and assist when they have set those guidelines, and we all know everybody is after this. It is a spiritual thing, and they should come together.
“They are experts among them; they need to come together and formulate something that is not going to violate anyone’s rights,” she said.
Makoboka said the CRL Commission was ready to assist.
“We promote cultural and religious rights, and we protect those as well,” she said.
A traditional healer and member of the African Healers Association, who trains initiates, Dr Mpho Masondo (Gogo Hopane), said becoming a traditional healer is a calling that comes in different ways and can be either physical, emotional, or spiritual.
The most important thing is that the family needs to ensure that the traditional healer that you are taking your child to is registered with an association, because in a case like this, the association can get involved for the protection of the client and the protection of the initiate
— Dr Mpho Masondo (Gogo Hopane), traditional healer and member of the African Healers Association
“When it happens, it's not only dreams, it's not only things that are conscious or unconscious, and as an initiate you are shown by your family — the family decides the traditional healer you end up with,” she said.
Masondo said she had heard of incidents that happen during training, including trainers dating or sleeping with initiates.
She said there was a problem when traditional healers use their power in the wrong way and this was not something that the association condoned.
She added an initiate is either led to a trainer or the family takes them there, and not all of them are registered with associations.
“The most important thing is that the family needs to ensure that the traditional healer that you are taking your child to is registered with an association, because in a case like this, the association can get involved for the protection of the client and the protection of the initiate,” she added.
She said regulating the practice was quite tricky, but when a trainer initiates training, they need to follow basic principles and maintain mutual respect.
“People are initiated differently, but the right way — everyone knows what's wrong and what's right. You know when you are doing something wrong, that you are assaulting someone’s child, or you are not supposed to sleep with that person.
“It's almost like an employee and employer relationship, and there are basic rules, but people decide not to follow those rules,” she said.
She added that even if there were regulations, ultimately it's the individual's conscience.
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