THE presence of an alleged muti man sparked an angry confrontation at half time during the match between Thanda Royal Zulu and Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
PSL officials intervened after a zealous local security steward accused a visiting supporter of attempting to place the muti at the door of the Amabhubesi change room.
The practice of using muti, consulting with traditional healers and calling on the ancestors, is a common one in African soccer.
Its purpose is twofold: to weaken the opposition and to strengthen one’s own team.
‘We heard they were bringing muti and it was my job to stop them using it to affect our players,’ said the steward, who apparently prevented the enemy in the camp from proceeding down the tunnel to the change rooms.
This led to a tense showdown with the visiting team’s coaching staff as they exchanged heated words.
Whether the steward was successful in warding off the intended effects of the muti is debatable, as the two teams drew 0-0 after the 90 minutes.
But Thanda did hit the posts twice and the ball inexplicably failed to cross the line on at least three occasions….
While not aware of the off-field altercation, which did not form part of the official match report, Thanda Chairman Pierre Delvaux called the muti scene ‘a curse on football in this country’.
‘It works on players’ minds. Either they fear what has been done to weaken them or they rely too much on the ancestors to help them, rather than believe in their own talent and ability.
‘My personal view is for players to show respect to the ancestors, who will bless them anyway, and believe in themselves.’
Soccer’s governing body SAFA (South African Football Association) was itself embroiled in a situation two seasons ago when R100 000 was paid to a sangoma to improve the national side’s performances.
After he had initially been short-paid, the sangoma declared he had locked up all Bafana’s goals in a muti bottle and SAFA soon relented.
Many teams have a pre-match ritual where herbs or traditional medicines are stuffed into jerseys – with players often complaining about the odour.
