Witchdoctor in court for murder.

This story happened a couple of days in the town i live.

The link i am providing is unfortunaly in Afrikaans, but i will translate the story, to get the gist of it.

I just find it absurd, that there is still people that believe that these so called Sangoma's or Witchdoctors, and help them and cure serious deseases. I know it is a tribal thing, but still, with modern medicine available, for sometimes much cheeper than the price these Sangoma's charge, why not just use a proper doctor to check you out?

These type of incidents take place alot here, and yet, it continues to happen. Cause people believe in these Witchdoctors. For me they are nothing more than charlatans, ripping of people, and causing more harm than good.

Here is the link to the article in the local paper.

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Mabukwana het in Februarie siek geword toe sy ‘erg begin bewe het’ en probleme met haar geheue en spraak ervaar het.
Sy en haar familie het na bewering geglo dat demone haar liggaam oorgeneem het en haar ma, Nozukile, het haar na Ncicana gebring vir genesing.

Die polisie het vroeër gesê Ncicana het tydens twee intense bidsessies herhaaldelike kere op Mabukwana se maag getrap in sy pogings om ‘die demone uit haar uit te dryf’.

Ná die tweede keer het sy gehuil, stil geword en kort daarna in haar ma se arms buite die tent gesterf.
Die vermoede is dat die trappery ernstige inwendige beserings veroorsaak het wat tot haar dood gelei het.

It says Mrs Mabukwana got ill in February of this year, after she started shaking badly and developed issues with her speech and memory.

She and her family apparently believed that she was possessed by demons, and her mom Nozukile, took her to the Witchdoctor for healing.

The police says, that Ncicana, the Sangoma, during two intense praying session, had stepped on the stomach of Mrs Mabukwana several times, in an attempt to "exorcise the demons".

After the second "attempt" she starting crying, went quiet and died in her moms arms, outside the tent.

The believe is that she died from serious internal injuries.

That is basically the story.

And it makes my blood boil that people should die like this because of ignorance. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated.

VVV


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Very interesting to say the least.

I feel there are true shamans and such who do possess the power to help people with their "dis-eases."

Maybe this witch doctor didn't quite exactly know what he was doing.

I don't know hard to say.

But my two cents is, I truly believe some shamans can cure certain types of ills...yeah man, old school.

How is it ignorant? It is ignorant because they seek to retain traditional cultural practices rather than conform to and accept Western scientific medicine? That is like them arguing because we do not visit a witch doctor we are the ones who are ignorant. Maybe you could try a practicing a little cultural relativism?

the principle that people should not judge the behavior of others using the standards of their own culture, and that each culture must be analyzed on its own terms

Am I arguing that a witch doctor is a wise choice for medical treatment? Most definitely not for myself, I do not believe in such things, however I understand and accept that in certain cultural traditions this is common practice and for the members of said culture to practice this tradition does not make them ignorant.

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


I feel much the same way solarE does.. these ritual shamans go back a very long time and I am sure they have their place in physical and spiritual medicine...

that said, there are more charlatans and con artists in this world than honest and caring people. this is true throughout history.

it is sad to see the cumulative effect from this type of fake medical practice for health. I feel the current medical industrial complex does the same thing every day such as jumping on someones stomach to rid them of demons.

no not literally, the big man today just uses big fancy words. to make them sound like they know what they are doing... when in reality they are just practicing...

bad Dr. give good Dr's a bad name, the same goes with shamans. I dont think that shamans have some secret power to heal todays physical problems we as humans have lost touch with our earth and have become synthetic. these synthetic problems, are cured with synthetic drugs and the cycle continues...

only if we could have embraced a true shamanistic life, the earth provides all the medicine we need in nature asprin penicillin inculin its all there we just have lost our sight...




I am in no way saying this shaman who killed this poor girl should be practicing anything. he seems to be just another con trying to get what others have through lies and deception... funny how most DR's in the US are the exact same way...

reply to post by Misoir

It is ignorant because they seek to retain traditional cultural practices rather than conform to and accept Western scientific medicine?

However, i would say that if they are well aware of modern medicine, and do make use of it as well, in conjunction with the Witchdoctor aspect of it, they are still ignorant. They are well aware that modern medicine is better than the traditional methods, yet sometimes, if not most, the only reason they see a traditional healer is because of pressure from the community.

Why should they suffer and die, purely based on their cultural believes? When the alternative is so much better?

In most cases they do not "seek to retain their traditional cultural practices" but are forced to make use of it. So yes, maybe they are not ignorant, but sometimes they are in a situation where it does appear that they are.

VVV

This story reminds me of an enlightening film I recently viewed. I'd highly recommend seeing A Reasonable Man before jumping to any conclusions regarding this event. The film brings to light many aspects, relating to incidents such as this, that subjective and ethnocentric opinion formers likely haven't taken into consideration. Definitely a worthwhile film for anyone wanting to see the situation more objectively.