MLUNGU sangoma Peter von Maltitz has been a traditional healer for 20 years.
He went through his thwasa journey under the guidance of his gobela, the late Philippi Kubukeli in Cala, Eastern Cape.
But the 72-year-old madala from Cape Town, who is also known as Mkhulu Zanemvula, said people always mistake him for a sangoma, but he’s not.
He explained the difference: “I’m not a sangoma, but igqirha.
“Igqirha investigates the dream world or unconscious by entering it consciously, yet a sangoma goes into a trance and is a medium for other beings to talk through him or her.”
About his calling, Mkhulu Zanemvula said he used to meet various spiritual healers at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and developed an interest in understanding traditional healers.
This is when he met his gobela.
“After I met him, he called me and told me he had dreamt that I should train as a traditional healer. He took me to Cala so that I can get a second opinion from another traditional healer,” he said.
Mkhulu Zanemvula said when they were on their way to the Eastern Cape, he dreamt about the woman they were going to meet.
“I described to him how the woman looked and Kubukeli was convinced that I was already spiritually developed to be igqirha and just needed a few things to be able to communicate properly with my ancestors,” he said.
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Mkhulu Zanemvula said he consults with people from all walks of life, and even helps them via WhatsApp.
He said he could draw a sketch of a person’s body and highlight what problem they were suffering from and then heal them.
On the name Zanemvula, he said during his thwasa days, it always rained whenever they performed a traditional ceremony that concerned him. He became a fully-fledged igqirha in September 1999.
