ALLEGATIONS of rape and abuse have cast a dark shadow over traditional healing initiation schools, with initiates coming forward to share their harrowing experiences, pointing fingers at their gobelas.
Lerato Mguni* (30), who had to break free from a sexual relationship with her gobela who had promised to undo the bad done by her previous sangoma, spoke to Daily Sun about her ordeal.
Lerato's disturbing encounter
Despite expressing her discomfort and attempts to break free, Lerato felt trapped, haunted by visions warning her about the sangoma.
“I found myself sleeping with this person and I felt like I wanted to do it all the time. But throughout that moment I wasn’t feeling like myself. I would even have visions warning me about this sangoma. I even told him about it, but he dismissed them saying my visions were incorrect,” Lerato said.
ALSO READ: Mafika recalls how BOMB ripped friend apart!
She said she used to tell the sangoma that she doesn't want to be with him anymore but always found herself going back.
Amid all of this, Lerato claimed things started going south for her when her boyfriend broke up with her.
She said she no longer got clients, work wasn’t going well and she found herself pregnant with the sangoma's child, which she later terminated.
“I felt like there was a lingering dark cloud. Things weren’t working out. I don’t know if this person was trying to destroy my life or he was drawing his power from sleeping with me,” Lerato said.
She said through prayers, she was able to break free from the spiritual tie that linked her to the sangoma and she never looked back.
The abuse dynamics: Silence and grooming
Sangoma and founder of Young Sangoma Empowerment, Yolanda Dandala (28), said exposing abuse ephehlweni is not easy because what happens there must be kept a secret.
She said gobelas use this to groom initiates and conceal the deeds as if it’s part of ukuthwasa.
“In most cases, victims don’t have evidence/proof of the rape. From the initiation process, they are groomed to be silent and hide what happens, not realising they're confiscating evidence at the same time,” she said.
ALSO READ: Fong kong amazimba maker bust!
In a recent interview with media personality and businesswoman Relebogile Mabotja, Dandala shared how she was raped by her sangoma while she was under the influence of alcohol he had offered them.
“When I chose to be silent, he controlled my voice in terms of who to sit with and who I talk to,” she said.
In a post on Instagram, Yolanda called out "rapist" izangoma, claiming that they use their powers for the wrong reasons and this make them weak.
According to Yolanda, the reason many initiates fail to finish their initiation is because gobelas instill fear in them.
Healing after abuse
Yolanda advised victims of such abuse to undergo cleansing rituals in natural settings such as rivers, open fields, and mountains to facilitate healing.
(*Names have been changed to protect the people involved.)
