Association warns against fake Healers
A traditional healer from Dikakapa tsa Dingaka Association of Botswana, Dr Cosmos Tshukuru, cautions Batswana about the reality of witchcraft, acknowledging that some may doubt its existence.
When speaking to The Midweek Sun this week, Dr Tshukuru who is also a headman in Motokwe village, emphasised that modern witches utilise technology, targeting specific items within homes and rarely missing their mark.
He also cautioned women against seeking consultation from traditional healers without the means to pay for their services, warning that some individuals may take advantage of them sexually.
Dr Tshukuru revealed that witches, usually use faeces from pit latrine toilets, to bewitch people or particular family members. Tshukuru further explained that faeces are used to cast curses, and anyone who has used that particular toilet may be affected.
"Even if certain individuals do not physically visit the cursed home, if they have ever used the toilet, the curse can still affect their lives."
Tshukuru added that women tend to experience more spiritual problems than men because witches frequently use mirrors to gain insights into their lives through the mirrors they often carry, unwittingly attracting negative energies.
Additionally, he highlighted how private issues can become public knowledge within communities because of the mirrors individuals carry with them.
He revealed that one other thing that witches use are trees planted in homes. According to Tshukuru, whenever such trees are watered, the people that the curses are directed to, will experience more troubles. Tshukuru also said that witches sometimes use pets like cats, chickens and dogs to place curses on people.
He cautioned against the use of traditional medicine inserted into another person's body through sexual means, highlighting its dangers and the criminality associated with such actions, which could lead to imprisonment for the charlatan ‘healers.’
Tshukuru strongly advised Batswana women to avoid traditional healers who engage in such unethical practices. His warning comes in the backdrop of an incident in 2021 in Maun, where a traditional healer allegedly raped a 20-year-old woman, claiming to remove curses through intercourse.
The young woman had gone for consultation with her boyfriend, who was sent to collect soil from a crossroad by the traditional healer at the time of the incident.
In a different incident which took place in 2023, a Standard 7 pupil was allegedly raped by a Zimbabwean traditional healer claiming to be using intercourse to expel a ‘spiritual husband.’