Witchdoctors in Swaziland
have accused members of parliament of double standards by passing a law
restricting their activities while at the same time using their services.
The witchdoctors ‘trade
union’ the Tinyanga Association petitioned the Ministry of Health
and the Public Prosecutions Office to have the Witchcraft Act amended.
The witchdoctors, who also
like to call themselves ‘tinyanga’ or ‘traditional healers’, object to Section
2 of the Act that states, ‘Any person who is found wearing any charm, dress,
ornament, emblem or insigne, which according to Swazi custom, indicates the
wearer as a diviner, witchdoctor or witch finder shall be guilty of an offence
and liable on conviction of a fine of two hundred emalangeni [about US$14] or
an imprisonment not exceeding five months.’
The Swazi Observer newspaper reported the witchdoctors said they had to
wear such things, ‘because they get order from the ancestors and if they
disobey those orders they are just putting their lives in danger’.
In a petition and letter
delivered to Parliament on Thursday (26 January 2017), the witchdoctors wrote,
‘You
use us at night but after you then pass laws that infringe on our rights.’
The Observer
reported, ‘The witchdoctors made it clear that the same parliamentarians who
are involved when passing laws that infringe on witchdoctors’ rights were the
same people who at night, sneaked to their consultation rooms to seek for
help.’
The letter also stated that the witchdoctors felt they
had to hide away from society because they feared arrest.
On Thursday (26 January 2017), the Office
of the Director of Public Prosecution told a meeting of
witchdoctors they must stop murdering people to obtain body parts for their
spells.
See also
WITCHDOCTORS TOLD ‘STOP MURDERING’
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/01/witchdoctors-told-stop-murdering.html
