Ramaphosa’s failure to acknowledge role of sangomas in Covid-19 fight

This week marked a very sad chapter in the history of our democratic South Africa.

President Cyril Ramaphosa shunned ancient African healing knowledge, African medicine and traditional healers when he addressed the nation on the escalation of measures to combat the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

However, in the same breath he sent out a statement mourning the passing of iSanusi Mkhulu Credo Mutwa.

It would be comic had it not been hypocritical and gravely ironic that an African head of state from the governing ANC, which has no history of being led by a non-African, consulted with every sector of society except the traditional healers, but felt it necessary to express his “sorrow” that one of our own, Mkhulu Mutwa, had passed on.

One can’t help but ask: What was Ramaphosa sorrowful about when ancestors and the God of our forefathers – uSmakade – decided it was time for Mkhulu Mutwa to rest.

This is because, in all the measures put in place for the national lockdown, Western medicine was prioritised.

Even those who wanted to jog with their dogs were considered but not patients who consult healers about their health issues.

And what about the healers who need to frequent rivers, beaches, waterfalls and forests to stay healthy?

According to the World Health Organisation, traditional medicine is the first source of healthcare for about 80% of the people in developing countries.

And let me hasten to dispute the popular narrative that only rural and poor people are our patients – that’s utterly incorrect as I practise in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg.

To those worthy of the president’s ear, may you pose these questions to him on my behalf please.

Who advises him? Who writes his speeches?

It’s difficult to fathom that any African employed in the highest office in the land could be so narrow-minded on spiritual matters to the point of presenting to the public a president who is blatantly disrespectful to his own forefathers.

Indeed, like millions in our country, as uhlanya and philosopher – wrongfully referred to as isangoma – I “understood the gravity of the situation” that warranted the total lockdown that began at midnight on Thursday to curb the spread of the virus in the country.

Read: We spoke to a traditional healer about Covid-19

However, I never thought my sacred ancestral healing gift was so trivial to the point that Ramaphosa didn’t see the need, not only to consult with our sector, but to even acknowledge that we exist.

It’s worth noting that the message being preached to the public, which was perhaps deemed to be beyond the intellectual capacity of healers, happens to be something we have been practising from time immemorial.

Not only do we wash our hands regularly with tap water, we often use water from waterfalls and oceans.

In his book, Umsamo: Amathongo Nemithetho Elishumi ka Nkulunkulu, Dr Velaphi “VVO” Mkhize clearly states that the water spirit we call noMhoyi is the most important of them all.

There was no virus when our ancestors decided that everyone who came to consult with them needed to wash their hands before they could be addressed.

Also, before a patient receives any form of treatment, the first step is steaming (ukugquma/ukufutha) to eliminate viruses and cleanse the body.

Is steaming not one of the methods recommended to prevent Covid-19 because the heat kills the virus?

I repeat, it is a sad week indeed for me as a healer because on March 25 2014 I walked into a hardware store next to a private clinic to buy a fluorescent light. But instead I started weeping because I was experiencing excruciating pain.

I ended up in hospital, the seventh time that Western doctors wheeled me into theatre to cut me open then sew me back – without a conclusive diagnosis.

They were great, well-educated and experienced surgeons but I had an ancestral calling that didn’t need Western medicine. They didn’t know.

From this week until the end of the national lockdown next month, how many patients are going to suffer the same fate or die because Ramaphosa has chosen Western medicine only to treat their ailments?

As a good citizen I sent written enquiries to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize’s office.

But sir, by choosing not to consult with healers, thereby justifying not mentioning them in your address among those who provide essential health services, you have opened the door for us to be treated like the scum of the earth.

It was therefore not surprising that my enquiries to Mkhize’s office were neither acknowledged nor responded to.

Forgive me for asking: Why is the Suppression of Witchcraft Act of 1957 yet to be scrapped 26 years into democracy? Does this mean the ANC government still regards traditional healers as subhumans?

Mkhulu Mutwa, you told me to my face that I was not just a journalist but a healer like you. I accept being treated like the scum of the earth for I know you won’t rest in peace until healers take their rightful place in this country.

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