ANDILE Dlamini, the sangoma who was supposed to perform a cleansing ritual on Ayaphiwe Ndothi (18) and Khethuxolo Gabashe (21), has broken his silence.
Ayaphiwe and Khethuxolo were allegedly swept by the water at Klip River during a ritual cleansing last weekend.
He said he is used to performing cleansing rituals, but an incident like this has occurred for the first time in thirteen years.
“When we got into the river, we sat down, and I was dressing, preparing myself for the ritual."
"As I was dressing up, the girl started groaning saying, “ngingu mndau”. She then ran towards the water. My younger brother tried to rescue her and unfortunately, both were swept by the water,” Dlamini said.
Andile recalled how he also jumped into the water, trying to rescue them, but it was too late.
He said their bodies had already gone deep inside into the water.
The sangoma said that he wasn't going to immerse the bodies into the water but use a bucket to fetch the water in the river, mix it with his muthi and then perform the cleansing on them as per his agreement with the deceased.
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“After the incident occurred, I then called the cops and informed them of what had happened,” he added.
Andile added that Khethuxolo was quiet, humble and down to earth, adding that he came to Joburg 2 months ago to look for employment.
While the media asked if he was intoxicated during the ritual performance, he said that he had consumed umqombothi at home before heading to the river for the ritual.
This after a male body was discovered this afternoon at the Klip River. The family has yet to confirm his identity, and the body has been handed over to the police for further investigations.
Meanwhile, the female body that was recovered on the N1 bridge on Wednesday, 22 November, has been confirmed to be that of Ayaphiwe.
Andile told the Daily Sun that Khethuxolo was his brother and is thankful that the body had been recovered, though they have not yet identified the body.
He said that he had hopes that the body could be that of his younger brother.
“Our hearts are very heavy, we have been praying as a family that his body be recovered,” he said.
