25 August, 2012 11:56:00
Stories by Faith Vilakati
Local top and well known pastors regularly consult traditional healers when sick and need special help in some of their ‘projects’.
Interestingly, they prefer to go for the consultations under cover of the night and shun away doing so during daylight because they might be exposed, well known traditional healer Nhlavana Maseko revealed.
However, he refused to divulge the nature of the pastors’ requests in their quest for extra divine assistance claiming that the work ethic of raditional healers did not allow them to disclose the identities and concerns of customers.
Maseko said what worried him was that while traditional healers attended to pastors and made sure their visits were kept a top secrete they, pastors, sometimes make fun of them (traditional healers) when preaching in their churches.
“We do not interfere with their work as pastors such that never at any given time would you find an Inyanga mocking them in the presence of patients while pastors do so when preaching. We expect them to allow us to do our work without being judged as is the case with them.
We are also God’s creation and the difference with us is that we use trees to heal the sick people, the pastors’ included. We do not expect pastors and ordinary people who we sometimes help to tease us. It is true that we receive a lot of them but I will not name them because we protect our clients, we are professionals and know what is wrong,” he said.
Maseko further stated that while some pastors consulted local traditional healers a lot more prefer those based outside the country and they got shocked when they meet at that foreign healer’s home.
He stated that they did not have problems with the pastors consulting foreigners but what worries them most is when they (pastors) start making false statements about traditional healers.
“Members of the public must know that we have very good relationship with the church and never at any time do we want to fight with them,” he said.
Maseko further revealed that apart from pastors they were also visited by ministers and top government officials who seek help and ask to be connected with their ancestors.
Tinyanga decry media ban
Traditional healers are not pleased with government banning foreign and local traditional healers from advertising their services in the local media.
Traditional Healers Organisation (THO) President Nhlavana Maseko said the ministry of health was supposed to consult his organisation before deciding to invoke a law banning certain adverts.
He explained that they appreciated government’s action only because most of the traditional healers who advertised in the media now come to his office to declare the different sicknesses they treat.
“When they come here, whether they are foreigners or Swazis, I listen to their submissions and tell them to bring the medication they have and I test it. We have a number of medicines we are yet to test and then brief its owners what we found,” he said. Maseko stated that he wishes all traditional healers could follow the requirements before announcing that they can heal certain diseases.
Reached for comments Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr Stephen Shongwe acknowledged that they did not consult THO about the changes and that was because they did not see the need to.
“We were following a law that dates back to the 1950’s which clearly states it is illegal for a person to place an advertisement that he can heal certain diseases.
The banning of these people came about after we noted that they were so many on the print media claiming to have the power to cure diseases yet they were not trained.
Consulting the THO before banning the people would have been a by the way thing not that we were supposed to tell them,” he said.
Shongwe said as a ministry they were happy that no adverts were ran on the print media after the banning stressing that they appreciated the cooperation they received from the media houses and their clients.
We don’t kill for ritual purposes - THO members
Members of the Traditional Healers Organisation (THO) have dissociated themselves from traditional healers who kill for ritual purposes.
They say these people are not traditional healers bust murders who tarnish their work as an organization.
One of the traditional healers affiliated to THO Busisiswe Makhabane said traditional healers do not go anywhere near a dead person because they always communicate with the dead.
“The people living in each of us do not allow us to be with corpse and have human body parts in our possession so it is not true that Tinyanga kill for ritual purposes.
We have nothing to do with those people and members of the public must know that we are there to help not kill them,” she said.
THO President Nhlavana Maseko added that they had specialists in a number of sicknesses whom they refer to as Traditional Professional Specialists revealing that they have people who deal with tooth aches, ulcers, fits and back pains (lukhalo).
specialist
“I am not trying to pat my shoulders I am a specialist in Ematatawane and no one can defeat me on this, I know I am the best. People often come to us for help and we have six hospitals across the country where are referred. I personally am against people who kill others because that is ungodly and still wonder who deceived them into believing that murdering another human being would give them more healing powers. This is not what is expected of traditional healers and it becomes very bad when we hear of such,” he said.
The president further stated that traditional healers, pastors and murderers were created by God and He was the only one who knew why they practiced murder.
He also stated that in most cases murderers were in the church masquerading as pastors and devoted Christians but kill people for ritual purposes and return to church but traditional healers are smeared with the blame.
Maseko also stated that they were also concerned about the number of reported cases whereby people would disappear for a few days and found dead later with no body parts taken.
He said in the olden days Swazis were not known to be killers and was wondering where the bad habit came from.
In conclusion, Maseko stated that they had a good relationship with pastors.
Interestingly, they prefer to go for the consultations under cover of the night and shun away doing so during daylight because they might be exposed, well known traditional healer Nhlavana Maseko revealed.
However, he refused to divulge the nature of the pastors’ requests in their quest for extra divine assistance claiming that the work ethic of raditional healers did not allow them to disclose the identities and concerns of customers.
Maseko said what worried him was that while traditional healers attended to pastors and made sure their visits were kept a top secrete they, pastors, sometimes make fun of them (traditional healers) when preaching in their churches.
“We do not interfere with their work as pastors such that never at any given time would you find an Inyanga mocking them in the presence of patients while pastors do so when preaching. We expect them to allow us to do our work without being judged as is the case with them.
We are also God’s creation and the difference with us is that we use trees to heal the sick people, the pastors’ included. We do not expect pastors and ordinary people who we sometimes help to tease us. It is true that we receive a lot of them but I will not name them because we protect our clients, we are professionals and know what is wrong,” he said.
Maseko further stated that while some pastors consulted local traditional healers a lot more prefer those based outside the country and they got shocked when they meet at that foreign healer’s home.
He stated that they did not have problems with the pastors consulting foreigners but what worries them most is when they (pastors) start making false statements about traditional healers.
“Members of the public must know that we have very good relationship with the church and never at any time do we want to fight with them,” he said.
Maseko further revealed that apart from pastors they were also visited by ministers and top government officials who seek help and ask to be connected with their ancestors.
Tinyanga decry media ban
Traditional healers are not pleased with government banning foreign and local traditional healers from advertising their services in the local media.
Traditional Healers Organisation (THO) President Nhlavana Maseko said the ministry of health was supposed to consult his organisation before deciding to invoke a law banning certain adverts.
He explained that they appreciated government’s action only because most of the traditional healers who advertised in the media now come to his office to declare the different sicknesses they treat.
“When they come here, whether they are foreigners or Swazis, I listen to their submissions and tell them to bring the medication they have and I test it. We have a number of medicines we are yet to test and then brief its owners what we found,” he said. Maseko stated that he wishes all traditional healers could follow the requirements before announcing that they can heal certain diseases.
Reached for comments Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr Stephen Shongwe acknowledged that they did not consult THO about the changes and that was because they did not see the need to.
“We were following a law that dates back to the 1950’s which clearly states it is illegal for a person to place an advertisement that he can heal certain diseases.
The banning of these people came about after we noted that they were so many on the print media claiming to have the power to cure diseases yet they were not trained.
Consulting the THO before banning the people would have been a by the way thing not that we were supposed to tell them,” he said.
Shongwe said as a ministry they were happy that no adverts were ran on the print media after the banning stressing that they appreciated the cooperation they received from the media houses and their clients.
We don’t kill for ritual purposes - THO members
Members of the Traditional Healers Organisation (THO) have dissociated themselves from traditional healers who kill for ritual purposes.
They say these people are not traditional healers bust murders who tarnish their work as an organization.
One of the traditional healers affiliated to THO Busisiswe Makhabane said traditional healers do not go anywhere near a dead person because they always communicate with the dead.
“The people living in each of us do not allow us to be with corpse and have human body parts in our possession so it is not true that Tinyanga kill for ritual purposes.
We have nothing to do with those people and members of the public must know that we are there to help not kill them,” she said.
THO President Nhlavana Maseko added that they had specialists in a number of sicknesses whom they refer to as Traditional Professional Specialists revealing that they have people who deal with tooth aches, ulcers, fits and back pains (lukhalo).
specialist
“I am not trying to pat my shoulders I am a specialist in Ematatawane and no one can defeat me on this, I know I am the best. People often come to us for help and we have six hospitals across the country where are referred. I personally am against people who kill others because that is ungodly and still wonder who deceived them into believing that murdering another human being would give them more healing powers. This is not what is expected of traditional healers and it becomes very bad when we hear of such,” he said.
The president further stated that traditional healers, pastors and murderers were created by God and He was the only one who knew why they practiced murder.
He also stated that in most cases murderers were in the church masquerading as pastors and devoted Christians but kill people for ritual purposes and return to church but traditional healers are smeared with the blame.
Maseko also stated that they were also concerned about the number of reported cases whereby people would disappear for a few days and found dead later with no body parts taken.
He said in the olden days Swazis were not known to be killers and was wondering where the bad habit came from.
In conclusion, Maseko stated that they had a good relationship with pastors.
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