Witchcraft accused gogo could have had dementia, says doctor

Dr Prudence Buthelezi says 80-year-old Dumisile Mahlangu, who was locked in her home and set alight by the community of Mbuzini after she was found wandering a neighbour's house naked at night, could have been suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's disease. She was accused of practising witchcraft.

“It’s a common thing among black people to accuse old people of being witches when they are found wandering at other people’s homes or somewhere they are not supposed to be, especially when they could not even explain why they are there,” Buthelezi, a general practitioner, said. 

“However, there are sicknesses such as dementia and Alzheimer's which cause memory loss in old people, inducing some to sleep-walk and even not knowing how they got to be where they are found. This might have been the case with Gogo Mahlangu but our black people don’t care about older people’s mental health.”

There was no one at Mahlangu's house when Sowetan visited the area yesterday.

Community members who didn’t want to be named told Sowetan that they found Mahlangu naked at night at a neighbour's house on Saturday . 

“We have been suspecting her of being a witch for some time but when we found her naked at the neighbour’s house that confirmed our suspicions. How can someone be found naked at another man’s house,” asked community members. 

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brig Leonard Hlathi said they had arrested five suspects between the ages of 22 and 44. 

“On Monday, we arrested four community members and charged them with murder and arson. We further arrested another suspect on Tuesday, bringing the number of suspects to five. He faces similar charges as the other four suspects. They are expected to appear in the Tonga magistrate's court on Wednesday [today],” said Hlathi. 

Sowetan gathered from one of Mahlangu's neighbours that one of the five suspects was the owner of the house where the deceased was found naked.