By Emily Mgidi
A former sangoma talks to Scrolla.Africa about how idlozi controlled her life and the gobela who added to her suffering.
She also reveals tricks she was taught at initiation school to make people believe lies.
Lindy Ngobe and her parents respected her calling throughout her life and the multiple problems and illnesses it caused by denying her calling in her younger years.
Her father pleaded multiple times with their ancestors to let her finish school before she can go through the initiation of ukuthwasa.
“I’d feel as if someone was whispering and sometimes I’d even lose my vision when I tried to write,” she said.
It was finding her terrible mentor that led her years later after completing her initiation to burn her ancestral hut and sangoma clothes and turning to the Bible.
Because of his teachings about how to make people fall for cheap tricks, she could not face lying to people when there was no genuine connection with the ancestors.
But the businesswoman from Centurion has experienced what has caused her to lash out, leading to backlash from many people when she said demons communicate through one’s dead loved ones.
“It was extremely hard for me. I was treated badly because I was educated and questioned certain things. People thought I was acting like I knew better,” she said.
She said one of the things that made her question sangomas were the tricks they were taught.
“Sangomas never say everything looks good and you’ll be okay. There’s always something wrong. They never send you away,” she said.
Lindy revealed that they don’t get visions about a client. They’d guess their problems and monitor their response.
Six months into initiation, Lindy’s mom died and she was told she couldn’t bury her; if she did she would have to start training all over again.
“I went to bury my mom and came back and started all over again. I graduated and was tasked with healing people but I didn’t like it,” she said.
It was a hard road for Lindy and her story is not in isolation. Young initiates get taken advantage of as people use the sangoma profession as a way to take advantage of people and take money from people who should not be initiated in the first place.
There are even stories of evil magic being used instead of healing through guidance from the ancestors.
Pictured above: Lindy Ngobe
