Traditional healers must be allowed to issue sick notes.

I would like to share my feelings about the way our brothers and sister are treated at work by their bosses if they went to get help from our traditional healers and fail to produce sick notes.

I am sure that our Health Department is under the leadership of black African people who understand very well what it means to be sick from spiritual-related sicknesses. Spiritual sickness can not be cured by medical doctors; it can only be cured by traditional healers.

What worries me the most is to see our fellow workers being mistreated or dismissed from work just because they can’t produce sick notes after consulting traditional healers.

There are situations whereby a person is under a particular spell which may be sent to him or her by someone else because of jealousy.

Or a situation whereby a girl is possessed by izizwe sent to her by a boy who wants that particular girl to love him.

Mind you, a person who is possessed by izizwe does not behave in her own capacity. But there is a special force that operates inside of her.

If you send that person to the medical doctor for help, she won’t get it because the medical doctor does not know anything about spiritual sickness.

To cure izizwe can take a few days or weeks. What if that person possessed by that kind of force is a scholar or a worker? Is it fair to dismiss her from work or school?

Our traditional healers are trained in their own special way to see if a person who consulted them for help really is sick or not. So why are they are not allowed to issue sick notes in situations like that?

Why does our government allow greedy bosses, who care only about money and not the well-being of their employees, to give employees a hard time or even dismiss them from work after the employee has consulted traditional healers and fail to produce sick note?

Is it because our government looks down on our African culture on our own continent?

I think it is high time our government granted our traditional healers the right to issue sick notes so as to protect workers, who are also taxpayers and whose rights are being violated by greedy employers.

Scelo Damane

Section Three

Vosloorus