The Traditional Healers Organisation (THO) and the eMbalenhle community are concerned about young people who leave school to become sangomas or traditional medicine practitioners.

The organisation is currently dealing with about 30 cases where children were initiated to become traditional healers without their parents’ approval.

“As an organisation, we get reports on a daily basis that children are initiated to be sangomas without their parents’ consent.

“Traditional leaders are asking us what is happening because parents flock to their traditional courts to report that their children are at initiation schools to become sangomas, said Ms Tryphina Mkhonza, THO chairperson in the Govan Mbeki municipal area.

“Children between the age of 11 and 16 years are now attending traditional healers’ initiation schools.

“If you walk around our township, it is red with the clothes of traditional healers.

“Our streets are now painted red and we wonder what demon has fallen in our area,” said Mkhonza.

Ms Mkhonza said they don’t deny that some children are possessed with ancestors who are calling them to become sangomas or traditional healers, but traditionally their parents need to perform a ritual and tell the ancestors that they will respond to their call when the time is right.

Mkhonza said some are escaping to take treatment for different medical problems, thinking that if they can become sangomas or traditional medicine practitioners, they will automatically be healed.

She said some traditional healers are focused on making money out of this, forgetting that these children need to go to school.

“Traditional healers of today need to be skilled, be able to read and write and understand the government laws that govern traditional healers.

“Parents told us that those traditional healers who took their children to their initiation schools demand goats and between R10 000 and R15 0000 before their children can be released.

“Some also demand cases of alcohol and expensive whisky. That is wrong if you are a real traditional healer,” said Mkhonza.

She said a real traditional healer will not accept children without their parents’ approval and that only criminals do that.

“Some are taking these children to taverns. Since I became a traditional healer, I never put my foot in any liquor outlet,” said Mkhonza.

She said the community need to work with their organisation to stop this demonic practice and take their children back to school.

Chief Jan Mahlangu said he refers all cases related to initiation schools to the THO because they require the traditional healers’ attention as it involves ancestral calling.

“As traditional leaders, we wonder has fallen to our community, because there are initiation schools for sangomas and traditional healers full of young initiates on every street corner.

“When someone has an ancestral calling, he or she doesn’t just go an initiation school next door. They can travel far to respond to the calling.

“This is not what we see here in eMbalenhle since early last year,” said Mahlangu.