The idea of an evil mermaid living in a Mabopane dam may sound ridiculous, but not to the locals.
This observation comes from Mabopane sangoma Julius Bobe.
He said he also believed the mamogashwa really existed at the Marikana dam, northwest of Pretoria.
This mermaid might have caused the recent death of a young boy, said the sangoma.
Mpho Shongwe (15) is said to have been grabbed and pulled into the water by a mermaid-like creature at Marikana dam last Monday.
Police spokesperson, Petunia Chabangu said boys between the ages of 11 and 15 told police they saw a woman near the dam.
“They said the woman called them to come closer, gave them each R1 and told them to come back there again the next day,” said Chabangu.
The three boys returned to the dam the next day.
“When they were busy talking to the woman, one of the kids saw that the woman was actually a fish from the waist downwards,” said Chabangu.
“He alerted the other kids but as they tried to run away, the mamogashwa grabbed Shongwe and pulled him into the dam.”
The other children alerted the elders who rushed to the dam to find the young boy lying dead a few metres away from the dam.
Bobe said his understanding was that mermaids represented evil spirits of humans who have lived and died while serving Satan.
Recently, there had been a great deal of sightings of these creatures around Mabopane, said Bobe.
Bobe said the mermaid was a fallen angel travelling in the form of half human and half fish.
“They are immortal. When they die, they live on, but not as a human soul,” he said.
“Many people who are in witchcraft worship these water spirits for power. They cause drowning and bad dreams and unclean sexual arousal in the night.”
Residents told Rekord that a woman believed to be a mermaid had been seen on the banks of the dam several times.
“We told the police about the mermaid but they are afraid to go there to investigate,” said Elsie Nhlapo.
Nhlapo said Shongwe was not the first victim of the mamogashwa.
“Three people that I am aware of, two kids and an adult were killed at the dam but police have refused to go near the dam,” she said.
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