MOB FORCES HEALER TO EAT OWN MUTI

MBABANE – Mob justice manifested in an unusual way when a spiritual healer was forced to eat all his medicinal concoctions (muti) at Sihhoye in the northern Hhohho Region.

The mob accused him of alleged witchcraft. This was one of the many atrocities that *Mdabula has been subjected to by members of the community at Sihhoye, where he has his homestead. The angry mob wanted Mdabula to prove to them that his muti was not lethal, following certain complaints linking him with unfortunate incidents that befall some community members. These included people with strange illnesses and those with ill luck, while others who are failing to succeed in life all blamed Mdabula and his charms. Most of the aggrieved people were close family members who felt he had a case to answer on the problems that befell them.

Fateful

On the fateful day of September this year, Mdabula said he was walking towards the local grocery store, about a kilometre from his home, when he was confronted by a group of people, who started demanding answers about his spiritual calling. “I told them that I was not a traditional healer, contrary to what they were made to believe, but a faith-based healer, because I am a Christian who is a member of the Jericho Church.” He said the angry mob refused to listen to him but started calling him all sort of names, including that he was a witch. He said they had also named certain people and insisted that he had bewitched them. “They assaulted me with fists and kicks until one of them said I must admit that I practised witchcraft, but I kept on stating my case that I am a prayerful person with the gift to assist people who are sick or in problems,” he said. Mdabula said after taking a beating from the mob, he was then carried shoulder-high to his home, where his assailants entered his healing hut and made serious threats of violence against him.

Consume

“Batsi angikhume yonkhe lemitsi,” he said meaning the order was for him to consume all the muti and concoctions in his hut. “In fear of the worst I ate everything and then they observed me intently to see if I would fall sick because they thought the muti was poisonous.” He said the muti consisted of crushed tree barks, ashes mixed concoctions and other things he used during healing sessions. He said he was relieved when the mob did not kill him because he had feared that the attack would end in his death. Mdabula said hours later he had fallen sick with stomach cramps because some of the muti he had been forced to eat was not mean to be eaten but to be used externally. He said he had not even gone to the hospital because the muti was not harmful. This was not the first time that Mdabula was attacked by the same people, who accused him of witchcraft as last year his house was burnt in an arson attack. He said he was asleep when someone came warning him that the door to his house was on fire. “I quickly jumped outside and luckily, the fire was just starting, so I managed to extinguish it with  the help of my neighbours.”

Burn

He later spent the night in another house, but the arsonists returned to completely burn the one he was initially sleeping in. Member of the community police Jabulile Magagula confirmed the attack on Mdabula and said she had played a hand in saving him when someone wanted to burn the house he was sleeping in. “I saw flames and quickly ran to inquire. I found that the flames were just starting and I shouted to him to get out quickly. That is how he survived.” She said she had seen the person responsible for the fire running away from the scene. Magagula said she had also learnt about the incident in which Mdabula was forced to eat his muti.

Warned

“I warned the people responsible that if they want to challenge him, they must report him at the royal kraal and not to resort to violence,” she said.
She said the issue had been discussed at the royal kraal, where the people responsible for attacking Mdabula were also warned to desist from doing so.
#Not his real name.

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