Beware of “prophets” who are brutal rapists

Vhembe residents are warned not to respond to invitations, especially on social media platforms, where the services of so-called “prophets” are offered. In one such incident, a woman responded to a conversation on what appears to be a fake Facebook account. She was subsequently lured into the bushes at Phiphidi, where she was raped and assaulted.

The woman described her ordeal on a radio show on Tuesday afternoon. She was a guest on the Tshiko tsha ndivho na vhutali show on Phalaphala FM but preferred not to have her identity revealed.

In the interview, the woman, who is in her mid-50s, linked her ordeal to a Facebook account, under the name Elma Mutavhatsindi. The specific account is believed to be fake and is known for its unsubstantiated and often ludicrous claims, especially as far as witchcraft and the selling of body parts are concerned.

From what could be established, the woman responded to comments on the page and engaged in a conversation with someone who presented himself as a “prophet”. After gaining her confidence, he gave her the phone numbers of a certain Ndivhuwo and the two agreed to meet the next day at 11:00 at Phiphidi.

“We met at Phiphidi in the forest and as I was about to introduce myself, he stopped me. He then told me my name (as if) through a prophecy,” she said. “(When) I asked him how he was going to help me, he said he was going to help me in the river, because if he took me to his house, I would leave my curse in his house,” she said.

On the way to the river, they met an old man, but the so-called prophet told her not to speak to the old man because he was his “zombie”. After they had passed the old man, she noticed that the two men exchanged signs.

“On our arrival at the Mutshundudi river, he instructed me to put my baby down and take off all my clothes,” she said. “I took all my clothes off and went to him in the river. He instructed me to sit, and he took a bottle that was full of blood and he poured the blood and some muti over me before he started washing me while speaking in a foreign language. I could not understand what he was saying,” she said.

She also recalled that the man wanted to cut off her finger, but she refused. “We fought for a long time and he then placed his hand on my private parts and said he was looking for my womb. I was feeling a lot of pain under my bellybutton. He threw me next to a big log and started raping me for about 30 minutes, whereafter he took his sperm and poured it into a bottle,” she said.

The woman described how she was instructed to walk alongside her attacker. He showed her the body of a dead man. She then pushed her attacker, causing him to fall into the water. “I started running in another direction and he (the attacker) used a shortcut to get to me. I was wearing only a dress. He got to me and hit me with a fist,” she said. “He then called someone and told them they must ‘do the job at 16:00’ and they would take my child to the mortuary.”

The man then forced her to walk up the mountain with him. “We saw a lot of people, but he said I must not talk to them. When I tried speaking with them, they didn't respond. His phone rang, and when he looked to the side, I started hitting him on the back of his head him with a bottle. I started running,” she described the ordeal.

The women said that she was saved by three children when she reached the village. The matter was then reported to the police.

The spokesperson for the police in Limpopo, Col Moatshe Ngoepe confirmed that a case of rape was opened and being investigated. He said the complainant was a 55-year-old woman and the incident had happened on 4 October last year.

Col Ngoepe called on people to not blindly trust people they did not know. He also appealed to people who had listened to the women’s ordeal and might have some information to come forward.

Date:12 March 2021

By: Maanda Bele

Maanda  Bele, born and raised in Nzhelele Siloam, studied journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology.

He is passionate about current news and international affairs.

He worked as part of the Zoutnet team as an intern in 2017.

He is currently a freelance journalist specialising in news from the Vhembe district.

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