These days, traditional healers are revamping an age-old vocation into a glamorous one. We take a look at how glam dlozis heed their calling while living their best life.
There are a number of millennial sangomas who are changing the face or even our perception of this vocation that has been around for as long as our African history has existed. For example, take South Africa’s media personality and rapper, Boity Thulo, who had tongues wagging when she took to social media announcing that she would be heeding her ancestral calling.
In one of her 2016 Instagram posts, she captioned an image of herself wearing traditional ancestral clothing in a rural setting, “They called. I answered. The proudest, most incredible day of my life. A beautiful gift that I will never take for granted. #ThokozaGogo #KgosigadiDabulamanzi…”
Years later, she hasn’t been let off the hook by doubtful on-lookers continuing to question her. She even started a debate around Christianity and ancestral calling when she tweeted in 2019, “Not sure who Abraham is, but I’m very certain who my great x 3 parents are.”
After an exchange of heated words, she then wrote, “If you’re going to try and demonise me for believing in my ancestors and the journey they have placed me on, you’re wasting your time. And stop trying to send me to get reprimanded by white Jesus who claims the people who birthed my family are demons. Asomblief. Thanks.”
Whether you choose to believe Boity or not, she has been vocal about her calling to a point where she even rapped, “Bare wa thwasa mara bona o rata strata wa mmona (They say she’s training to be a sangoma but look, she’s always gallivanting on the streets)”, in her single, Bakae — a line that seems to suggest that a sangoma must stay put and not have a life.
Boity is a sangoma that puts much glam to her ‘gram.
READ MORE | Gogo Dineo Ndlanzi on the importance of officiating Ancestors’ Day as a public holiday
Digitalising ubungoma
With the number of internet users rising, followed by more than three billion social media users globally, according to a digital marketing website, www.smartinsights.com, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen dlozis use these platforms to share information.
“My intention for using social media has always been to inspire,” Gogo Dineo Ndlanzi explains.
“To me, the word inspiration means to help return people to their spirits, which is what I believe is the core essence of our identity because that is what connects us to the image of the creator. Therefore, I share content on these platforms to return people to the essence of their own truth, awakening and understanding that they’re co-creators in their lives and not held hostage by some being in the sky.
“To me, it’s been an effective platform because it has given people access to information. The digital platform has also been a tool that has challenged my thinking and my way of seeing things. I’ve asked myself questions on how certain things are applicable in the 21st century because we’re evolving beings,” she adds.
Kwenzekile Mngoma, a self-proclaimed glamorous dlozi, agrees that social media has been very effective in not just showing her make-up and brows on fleek, but teaching people about culture.
“I believe that as a black society we have turned our backs on our cultures and African identity, and what better way to reach and teach as many people than through these platforms?”
Letoya Makhene, who has more than 100 000 followers on Twitter, adds that a lot of her fans, who mainly reach out to her through social media, have truly embraced her and her calling and still call for help and advice.
You might think technology has been taken to the extreme as some people really consult a sangoma through digital platforms. Mngoma once told another publication that her clients are mostly young and busy women who prefer the convenience of digital consultations.
READ MORE | 10 South African celebrities who answered the call to be traditional healers
She further added that some women preferred to e-mail, WhatsApp or send direct messages on Instagram. And yes, she guaranteed that her accuracy in digital consultations was just as effective as when she met her clients face-to-face.
“I have since stopped that route though due to the high volume of clients I deal with daily,” she says.
Letoya, on the other hand, has never agreed with this form of contact and laments that technology is trying to take away the true essence of this practice.
Lifestyle vs true calling
Who can forget entertainer, Scoop Makhatini’s tweet earlier this year that read, “All of a sudden Tom, Dick and Thandi is having a calling…I’m just gonna relax and watch the liars play themselves out. The ancestral lashing will be unavoidable… Yonke into bafuna ukuyendza ‘fashion’ (they want to make everything trend).”
While this brought various social media debates to the fore, one can’t help but wonder if there was any truth to Scoop Makhathini’s question.
“I believe some are using this calling for fame and to add glamour to it,” Letoya adds.
“You need to be in line with your calling and truly believe. At first, a lot of my fans didn’t understand what I was all about until I spoke about it frequently on various media platforms.”
Mngoma adds that her journey into being a sangoma was predestined from an early age as she could interpret dreams and even sleep-walk.
“I know that there are people who judge me for my looks and lifestyle and think I might be joking, but this spirit of healing that lives within me amazes me too.”
This glam dlozi frowns upon the fact that in this day and age, many people reduce this calling to a bogus business opportunity at the expense of people who really need help.
“Your ancestors will guide you through dreams and signs if you’re truly called. No glam dlozi will initiate you or should draw you in because of how they look. A true calling comes from within and your ancestors will lead you to the right person to help you in your journey.”
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