By REGINALD KANYANE
A sangoma and her family from Modimong village, near Taung are living in fear after vutha ravaged her home. Nelly Chweu (49) said she was forced to abandon her house and now she is sleeping in her indumba with her children, while her husband sleeps in a car.
This comes after vutha struck her house three consecutive days last week. Chweu said to make the matter worse, the vutha also destroyed the indumba of her initiate, who is also her neighbour. She believes that, there are some people who want to destroy her life. According to Chweu, the dangerous vutha started in her bedroom at around 3pm in the afternoon.
“What surprised us, on 1 February 2023, vutha only burned my clothes even though they were mixed with my husband’s clothes in the wardrobe. At around 9pm on the same day, vutha came back and burned the bed, but only where I sleep including my pillow.
“Again, we tried to extinguish the fire, but it came back three times and still burned in the same spot. On Thursday, vutha went straight to my children’s bedroom and burned one of my children’s clothes who is doing Grade 10 including the wardrobe,” Chweu said.
She further said, on the same day, it burned the indumba of one of her initiates, Keletso Onkaetse. Chweu added that, on Friday, vutha came back strongly at around 3pm, and torched the learner’s bed.
“My daughter is burned in the leg as we speak. Again at around 10pm on the same day, the bedroom of my son also caught fire. So, we decided to leave everything and go to sleep in my indumba with the children.
“My husband is sleeping in the car and we do not know what will happen next. However, I am happy that the Taung Traditional Practitioners (TTP) members came through on Saturday to assist us by throwing bones and checking what might be the cause,” she said.
The initiate, Keletso Onkaetse (20) shared the same sentiments.
“It was around 6:30am on Thursday when I saw my indumba on fire. I was from the house of my mentor and rushed to the hut to try and extinguish the fire.
“However, the fire gutted my money, including incense and bones. I was surprised at around 3pm on the same day when vutha came back and finished off my traditional attire,” she said.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of Taung Traditional Practitioners (TTP), Kenneth Mpelegang Magano said, they have assisted Chweu’s family and they know what might be the cause of vutha.
Magano said, it is sad to see some individuals who are also traditional practitioners having a hidden agenda against fellow practitioners, simply because they helping people to heal.
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