The clash between spiritual belief and science has been in the spotlight recently with the alleged sightings of the Virgin Mary by an East Rand teenager. On Tuesday, Special Assignment looks at the African belief in the power of “udosi lwempisi” or hyena’s tail, said to be used to put people to sleep during robberies. “It’s not a belief, it’s real”, says traditional healer Elvis Mavungha. “You take hyena’s tail and bones and you light it and make people go to sleep, because immediately they smell it…they won’t wake up”.
It happened to the Amod family in Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal. Mother of four, Fatima, says not even her baby, then a month old, woke for his feed. “I was so sleepy, I couldn’t wake up…my body was heavy, heavy, heavy…the front door was broken…and on the floor I found ashes, black ashes…” The same thing happened to Maphuti Hlahla. She’s a trade unionist and a sceptic by nature.“I always used to laugh at people, saying they’d been drinking too much, but it happened to me. They took everything while I slept. They even made tea and drank it in my house…I usually wake up as soon as a person enters my house”.
Also interviewed on the program is an alleged burglar, who says he never breaks and enters before lighting a piece of hyena’s tail. “I burn it at the front door…and you won’t hear anything….I can come into your bedroom, lift you from the cupboard and take everything in the house, even the cupboards.
”Tuesday’s program will also feature updates on several stories broadcasted last year.
This investigation is produced by Jessica Pitchford.
|
