DURBAN - In the rural village of Mfume on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast stands the thatched-roof rondavel of a traditional healer who was sentenced to life imprisonment this week for the murder of Chatsworth woman Desiree Murugan.
The family of Sibonakaliso Mbili, 35, were struggling to accept that a prison cell was what their son would now call home. They believed he was wrongly implicated in the death of Murugan, a sex worker who was stabbed 192 times and beheaded on a sports field in Shallcross, near Chatsworth.
He was accused of ordering the head of an Indian, white or coloured woman for purposes of supernatural powers. He instructed Mlungisi Ndlovu and Thuso Thelejane to get the head and offered R2 million in payment. Ndlovu and Thelejane were each sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by Durban High Court judge Thoba Poyo-Dlwati.
Mbali Magwala, who washed the head after the beheading received 12 years. When Mbili’s mother, Balindile Mbili, was asked about her son by the Sunday Tribune, she started to cry. Her husband tried to restrain her, but she was overcome with emotion. The Mbili’s daughter Zama and five grandchildren were in the rondavel. A kettle was boiling over an open fire and a hen and her chickens scampered through the house.
But the Tribune photographer’s equipment bag was not a welcome sight for the old lady, it made her feel miserable.
“I don’t like your backpack because it brought troubles to my house. The children he is now arrested with came to the house carrying the same backpack with the head. They attempted to sell it to various traditional healers. My son told them he doesn’t use body parts and they left with the backpack of evil spirits. We were shocked when police arrived to arrest my son after the boys lied, saying they were sent by my son to kill. What can one do when the judges have made their decisions? My son had an ancestral calling from a young age, he assisted many people, he used natural herbs to make muti, not human body parts,” she said.
She said Mbili was a father of four, and the breadwinner.
“It feels like he has died because we will no longer live with him. He used to support us with the money he made as a sangoma. Ever since he was arrested, our finances have dried up. We are hungry. My son cries up until today when we see him. He said he doesn’t know why these children chose to lie about him,” she said.
Mbili’s sister, Zama, also defended her brother, saying he would not have made a promise of R2m when he was so poor himself.
“Look at our living conditions, you can see we are not rich. It’s impossible he would make a promise to pay such an amount. Do you think we as a family would have lived in a house where a head was found or lived with someone we knew killed people? There are many things the judge and police should have taken into consideration but chose to ignore,” she said.
Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, chairperson of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, said a Traditional Health Practitioners Act was passed to standardise and regulate the affairs of all traditional healers.
“The Act has established an interim council to provide a regulatory framework. This allows for traditional healers to be registered and categorised according to their different healing specialities. The certificate will only be issued if the registrar appointed by health minister after consulting with council is satisfied that they meet the requirements,” Mkhwanazi Xaluva said.
Sazi Mhlongo of the Traditional Healers Association said it had a programme of visiting places of practise of all traditional healers.
“We recently had a meeting where an issue about the so-called healers who use body parts was discussed,” Mhlongo.
“We will soon be visiting traditional healers practices to search for illegal material used for medicine. The offenders will be arrested and banned from practising,” he said.
“We are also proposing that all practising traditional healers must be registered with council and also be known in their area by their ward councillor or chief. This will ensure we root out the evil practitioners. They are not traditional healers but are practising witchcraft. Clients must also check,” warned Mhlongo.