Simphiwe Ndwandwe
Isolezwe 10 April 2012
People in Ekuvukeni in the Nongoma area are living in fear at the rise, since the beginning of the year, in instances of people hanging themselves – something which has led to a rash of accusations that there is a person selling an evil concoction, designed to destroy, in the market of this town. The first person to commit suicide by hanging was a teenage boy of the Nsele area, who ended his life in January this year after complaining that his mother was abusing him, even though he knew that her actions were a result of her own mental disturbance. Mr Goodwill Nyembe, a councillor in Ward 10, said that the death of this young man had greatly distressed the community, since they had long known that the mother was ill and were now asking themselves what cause him to end up taking his life in this way. While there was still shock at this incident there was another – this time another young man of the Zwane area had also killed himself, at the beginning of February, by means of hanging – and this was the start of the outcry in the area. Nyembe said that the thing which really put fear into the hearts of the people was that as February was ending it came to light that a girl from the area had hanged herself, which confirmed for them that something sinister was afoot.
Although it is not absolutely clear that people’s suicide is linked to the deeds of witchcraft, Nyembe said that there are other issues which can be linked to those deeds, such as those which afflict people spiritually and then they kill themselves.
“So we told the youth who are our ambassadors in the community that they should help us by finding the troubled ones for us, so that it may become clearly apparent regarding what is afflicting them. I urge those who feel in themselves the stirrings of suicidal feelings to hurry and contact me so that I can find help for them. Regarding those things which have been alleged, we will not let them go – we will investigate them and we are committed to finding out who the person is who is selling the evil medicines which destroy a person when they are present,” said Nyembe.
Mr Sithembiso Gumbi, of Ward 2, said that last week in the Njoko area there was a woman who died who had hanged herself because of a quarrel she had with her father, over her intention to live with her lover. With regard to the woman, upon her return to her lover’s house it is said that she locked herself in her room, in which she killed herself, but that she had left a letter in which she apologized to her parents for her actions.
Occult Zulu 