Lungani Zungu
A cleansing ritual turned tragic when a man drowned as a traditional healer held him under the water in a river in the Injisuthi Gorge in the Drakensberg on Tuesday night.
The body of the 43-year-old Thabani Mkhize is still to be recovered.
The traditional healer only known as Ndlovu declined to talk to Scrolla.Africa.
Mkhize’s brother Muzi said they don’t want to point fingers at anyone for his brother’s drowning at this stage.
“Our focus right now is to get his body. And we don’t know at this stage whether he is dead or alive,” said Muzi.
“Many people disappear under the water but come back to their families later.”
Mkhize has four children.
A family member said Mkhize told them he would visit a sangoma to cleanse himself after his girlfriend of five years had a miscarriage, a common practice in Zulu culture.
The member said when Mkhize drowned the traditional healer jumped out of the gorge.
He then informed the family of Mkhize’s accident and the family told the police.
The family insists that some people disappeared for decades and come back alive.
Two months ago two people drowned while performing a ritual.
Provincial police confirmed the accident and said search efforts were still underway.
