south africa Archives

Calls in South Africa to make witchcraft illegal

January 13, 2010 by Andrew 1 Comment

In response to the horrible murder of an 81-woman believed by her neighbour to be a witch, the South African authorities are being urged to ban witchcraft.

To be clear; the non-witch murdered the suspect-witch and now papers like The Richmark Sentinel are calling on witchcraft to be made illegal. The claim is that this is the ban will make life safer for the witches.

The murderer escaped before the police arrived.

The South African province of Mpumalanga has already to introduce the “Witchcraft Suppression Bill,” but met resistance. The bill attempted to define witchcraft as;

“The secret use of muti, zombies, spells, spirits, magic powders, water, mixtures, etc, by any person with the purpose of causing harm, damage, sickness to others or their property.”

This would technically mean the secret use of a water pistol to soak some curtains could have been classified as witchcraft.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think about this news? Fairly shocking that people still think like this. How would you address the problem of violence against people who are believed to be witches?

Transkei witch gunned down

May 9, 2009 by Andrew Leave a Comment

In South Africa, a Transkei woman has been shot dead after she was accused of practising witchcraft.

The murder occurred in Bityi, near Mthatha, and the South African Daily Dispatch reports that the 49-year old woman was shot four times.

Superintendant Mzukisi Fatyela told local press that the shooting happened at about 9:30pm on the Thursday night.

“Two balaclava-clad men entered the house and without saying a word opened fire on the woman, killing her instantly,” said Fatyela.

Transkei is in the eastern cape of South Africa. The name means “the area beyond the Kei River”. The area is becoming more popular with tourism and backpacker lodges are cheap and easily available. Both Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki were born in Transkei.

In Pure Spirit

Is your instinctual reaction tell you that this poor woman was shot because she was believed to be a witch? Or do you suspect the story is more complex than that?

Hundreds travel to see resurrected taxi driver

April 6, 2009 by Andrew Leave a Comment

In South Africa, hundreds of people have travelled to meet and talk to Nkosinathi Ntsente who was shot, died and buried eight years ago.

Ntsente now spends his day re-telling the same story to the crowds who walk great distances to talk to him. “I’m tired of telling the same story, the whole day, every day,” he told the Daily Dispatch.

Ntsente story begins when he saw the gunmen approach in a white minibus and how a man near him and who looked very similar to him was riddled with bullets. It was this badly injured “double” that was taken to St. Barnabus Hospital in Libode.

The taxi driver says he was even present at the funeral that was held for the “double” after his death.

In fact, Ntsente remembers seeing the “double” at the hospital and even there when the body was taken to the mortuary and cut open.

It was at the funeral when four witches approached Ntsente and took him off to a dark forest. He was not alone there as the witches had collected very many other abducted people.

“We mostly drank blood and ate izinsipa (used sorghum) and wild berries. I was released after witches said I was too powerful for them to make me do evil things,” says Ntsente.

His family have welcomed him back, claiming that the funeral surprised them as they had always believed he had been abducted.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think? If this “double” was just some other person then why does Ntsente remember the body being moved to the mortuary? Could this have been an out of body experience?

Or could this Ntsente actually be the “double” and an imposter?

10 ghost animals in science

December 4, 2008 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Image via Wikipedia

In this article we look at ten animals that have the word ‘ghost’ in their name. The world of the paranormal does have its influence on science and biology after all.

1 ) The Ghost Spider

The ghost spider (anyphaene californica) is a tiny, translucent arachnid that lives in the southern parts of the United States.

2 ) The Ghost Bat

Also known as the Australian False Vampire Bat (macroderma gigas) has extremely thin wing membranes which can give it an eerie glow when it flies. The large bat is a fierce predator and very common in Australia.

3 ) The Ghost Moth

With pure white wings the male ghost moths (hepialus humuli) will fight one by slowly fluttering upwards and dropping back down again.

4 ) The Ghost Lizard

The Ghost Lizard (eurycea spealeus) is neither a ghost nor a lizard. It is a salamander which lives its entire life in caves. Ghost Lizards are completely translucent.

5 ) The Ghost Frog

The Ghost Frog (helophryne genus) get their name from their habbitat – they’re found in Skeleton Gorge in South Africa.

6 ) The Ghost Crab

Ghost crabs (ocypode quadrata) is a member of genus Ocypode and can be found around the world from Australia to the United States.

7 ) The Ghost Fish

Also known as Glass Catfish, the Ghost Fish (kryptopterus bicirrhis) is entirely transparent – turning a milky white after death.

8 ) The Ghost Knifefish

The Ghost Knifefish (apteronotidea) are freshwater fish use EOD (electric organ discharge) to communicate. There are a number of different sub-types of ghost knifefish with the black ghost knifefish and brown ghost knifefish being much more common than the others.

9 ) The Ghost Tiger Beetle

The whiteish coloured Ghost Tiger Beetle (cicindela lepida) and like other tiger beetles is fairly aggressive and well armed with mandibles.

10) Ghost Insects

Ghost insect is a fairly common alternative name for stick insects (phasmatodea). They mark good pets are they are easy to care for although some species are extremy toxic.

In Pure Spirit

How did we do? Are you aware of any other ghost animals in science?