Somizi pleads with people to protect and not harm the elderly in the name of witchcraft

Media personality Somizi Mhlongo-Motaung has taken to social media to ask people to help rather than accuse the elderly of witchcraft and harm them, when they could actually be suffering from mental illness.

Taking to Instagram, the star posted a Tik Tok video he came across of an elderly woman with supposed mental illness who was accused of practising witchcraft. 

Using his platform, the star said it breaks his heart to see people being falsely accused of being witches, which sometimes leads to death. 

He also urged fans to assist those with mental illness instead of attacking them.

“I saw this on Tik Tok and it broke my heart. So I want to use my platform to send a very important message, especially to my African brothers and sisters because so many of our people, especially gogos, have been falsely accused of being witches and murdered. This is not witchcraft this is a mental disorder, or dementia to be specific.

I beg you ... If you come across such, try to help not attack. This breaks my heart.” He wrote. 

Earlier this year, TimesLIVE reported that two men made a brief appearance in the Protea magistrate’s court in Soweto for the brutal murder of 59-year-old Jostina Sangweni in Mapetla, who they accused of witchcraft.

Sangweni’s last moments alive were captured on a video that went viral on social media shortly after the incident in March. In the five-minute-long video clip, two men can be heard accusing her of being a witch after finding her in their yard.

In an interview with eNCA, her family confirmed that she had been diagnosed with dementia. They called for more education on mental illness.

Somizi has spoken out on the topical “witchcraft” debate that often has the TL in a huff.

Somizi said recently that rejoicing in others' failures is comparable to witchcraft. 

“If you are that type of person, hold your heart and say ‘I’m a witch!’, because uyathakatha. Because you are just as good as a witch and I’m not innocent to that, I’ve been that person before. But I was blessed and lucky enough to realise that is part of witchcraft. Part of uyathakatha is when you rejoice over and on somebody else’s downfall. That’s evil, it’s demonic,” said Somizi.