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"Bloody muthi madness!" - Daily Sun

The front page and lead story of SA's largest daily newspaper, August 2 2013

Daily Sun (August 2 2013) - A SANGOMA hatched an evil plan to make a barren woman fertile. It meant cutting open a pregnant woman and stealing her baby - which would then be sacrificed as muthi!

THE PREGNANT WOMAN WAS GABISILE CHANGA. AND TODAY BOTH SHE AND HER BABY ARE DEAD! After the bloody attack on her, Gabisile's body was set on fire. Her charred body was found in a playground at Dawn Park in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni. But the sangoma's plot went wrong when Gabisile's baby also died - and she needed a live baby to kill!

The full story of the muthi madness that took the lives of the 24-year-old mother and her baby emerged yesterday when cops bust the sangoma, her son and two other local men. Also arrested was Gabisile's neighbour - a woman.

The charges against all five are kidnapping and murder.Daily Sun was told it began when the neighbour pretended to be pregnant and befriended Gabisile. According to Gabisile's traditional husband, Siphiwe Ngcongo (37), the two women both seemed excited about giving birth.

"They talked of bringing them up together as friends." They started taking trips to a local mashonisa, unknown to Siphiwe, where the neighbour was supposed to get money to buy baby clothes. Siphiwe told Daily Sun when he came home from work at 2pm on Wednesday, Gabisile was not at home. But the neighbour turned up holding a baby.

He didn't realise it, but the "friend" had turned on Gabisile, ripped her stomach open and stolen the baby from her womb! "I was shocked to see her and asked where Gabisile was," said Siphiwe. "She couldn't tell me."

Angry residents told Daily Sun they tracked the woman down to the sangoma's house, where she was turned away because the baby was already dead! The shocking saga ended when the desperate woman took the dead child to Tambo Hospital in Boksburg and tried to swop it for a living baby - but she was grabbed by nurses!

Meanwhile, a search for Gabisile continued the whole night. It wasn't until early yesterday that her burning and mutilated body was discovered in a pile of rubbish by two security guards in the playground next to Dawn Park Clinic.

Traumatised Siphiwe could not believe the horror that had happened to the mother of two children, aged six and two. "I have never seen anything like this. She was a very sweet woman who never had a grudge against anyone," Siphiwe said. But there was no answer to the biggest question in his Siphiwe's mind: Who burnt the body?  

Five suspects are already in jail.

) The infertile woman the sangoma was supposed to help has not been identified.

) Cop spokesman Captain Mega Ndobe confirmed the arrest of the sangoma, her son, two helpers and the woman neighbour.

"They have been arrested and charged with kidnapping and murder. They will appear in court soon," said the cop.

) Daily Sun spoke to a traditional healer,

Ntsimb'edlezinye Ngema, from Joburg, who was appalled by the incident.

Ngema said traditional healers are not allowed to tell their patients to kill people and get their parts for muthi.

"Look what has happened now? Innocent people are killed for no reason.

"The very same inyanga and the culprits will have to face the music," said Ngema, adding that such fake sangomas were a serious problem in Mzansi.

See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....

The Daily Sun is South Africa's largest daily newspaper with an average circulation of 330 000 and a readership of 5.7m (as per AMPS 2012ab). Its Facebook page can be accessed here. It can be followed on Twitter here. To find about advertising on the Daily Sun click here.

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