MADALA Sebastion Mathonsi’s family didn’t believe him when he told them a tokoloshe was banging drums loudly in his head.
They thought he was just irritated by the neighbour, who brews mqombothi and plays loud music every day.
They gave the 62-year-old madala painkillers and told him to get some sleep.
But madala Sebastion never woke up. Sebastion, who lived in Joe Slovo, Komatipoort, Mpumalanga reported the loud drums banging in his head to his daughters Nolwazi (20) and Sesi (17) and his son Joseph (22). A few hours later, they went to check on their father.
Joseph tried to shake his father awake but the old man didn’t respond.
“My father was as healthy as an ox. He always got up early to work in his vegetable garden. He could not have been killed by the noise.”
Sebastion’s sister Rebecca Mathonsi (58) believes her brother was killed by a tokoloshe. She said they consulted a sangoma who confirmed that a tokoloshe caused his death.
Sebastion’s friend Richard Mandlanzi (70) said when the madala told him about the tokoloshe playing drums in his head, he joked about it.
“I even told him to dance to the tune playing in his head. I did not know it was serious.”
Sangoma Nora Mathwasa (50) said Sebastion must have done something wrong to somebody who wanted to take revenge. “A tokoloshe playing drums in your head or stomach is dangerous. It was probably sent by an angry person he wronged.”
