A Soweto woman has fled her home after the community had accused of being a witch.
The mother of three children abandoned her RDP house in Braamfischerville in June following a series of threats to her life.
The 59-year-old, whose name has been withheld to protect her from further victimisation, is accused of having a hand in the death of her neighbour’s child.
According to the woman, the deceased was sick for a long time and was collected by an ambulance at his home when he took his last breath in March.
“After the funeral rumours started circulating that I am a witch. People started saying I killed my neighbour’s child. I ignored those rumours but I became worried when young people in my street started mobilising the community to march to my house,” she said.
The swelling rumours in the community soon turned into action in April. A group of unidentified men frequently stood outside the woman’s gate at night, chanting slogans suggesting that she is a witch and she must leave the area.
The woman left her home for a week but upon her return she was disappointed to discover that her property had been broken into.
She opened a case with the Dobsonville police but the threats continued.
Her house electricity cables were stripped off. The main water supply pipe was vandalised, leaving litres of water to freely flow inside the vacant five roomed house. The front boundary wall has been partially broken down.
Nobody has been held to account for the latest incidents.
“I went back to the police to report all these matters but they told me that I must improve my home security or get someone to live in my house. The police are not saying anything about the threats I have received. I have a house but I can’t live in it because I fear for my life. It’s painful,” said the teary woman.
Police confirm that the woman has opened a case at Dobsonville, but they refused to give details about the ongoing investigation.
The Braamfischerville woman is not the first person to be accused of witchcraft in Soweto.
Jostina Sangweni, 59, died in hospital last year after she was assaulted by Mapetla residents accusing her of being a witch.
The assault on Sangweni was recorded on video and two men were arrested for her murder.
But the case was withdrawn in March this year due to insufficient evidence.
“It’s painful to hear what is happening in Braamfischerville but I am not surprised. Black women are not valued in our communities. If black women are raped or killed by their partners they run the risk of being accused of being witches,” said Sangweni family spokesperson Jabulani Moagi.
Sangweni, who was a traditional healer, lived with schizophrenia.
The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) condemns the latest developments in Braamfischerville.
“The CGE is appalled by the recent incident in Soweto. We believe something has to be done about this issue of people being accused of being witches unnecessarily so. It cannot be right that police who are supposed to help people are turning their backs on such cases,” said CGE spokesperson Javu Baloyi.
nzimandeb@sowetan.co.za
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