Thabisile Khoza
An English consultant has graduated as a sangoma in Mpumalanga, three months after flying to South Africa from Britain.
This week, Thomas Heathfield, 32, a bank consultant from Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, graduated as a sangoma in a ceremony held at Mangweni village near Komatipoort.
“I can’t believe that I’ve finally completed the training. It was as easy as ABC,” said Heathfield, who is also known as Gogo Mndawe.
He said it was initially very difficult for him because he didn’t understand the local SiSwati language. “I struggled to hear what my trainer, Gogo Dingani, was telling me, but I finally learnt every word she said to me,” said Heathfield.
During the graduation ceremony he was sent on a mission to find a goat’s bladder and other body parts that were hidden about 1km from where the ceremony took place. The new sangoma looked very tired. He was dirty, his hair smelt bad and he had a few open wounds on his hands and legs, but his parents, trainers and villagers ululated as he drank and vomited goat’s blood in a ritual.
He said he trained as sangoma after experiencing a decade of bad luck.
“I have been followed by bad luck for a period of 10 years. I lived in shame because I was ignoring my ancestors’ calling all along,” he said.
Heathfield found out about sangoma training and Gogo Dingani through his friend, Lungile Tsetse, who often visited the UK.
“I lost every girlfriend because of bad luck. My ancestors wanted me to respond to their call,” he said.
Heathfield said that during the training, he was allowed to sleep for only four hours a night. He said he would wake up every day at 2.30am to perform a ritual dance called kuhlehla, in which he went into a spiritual trance. He also learnt to throw bones and about the uses for different herbs.
“Today I’m a sangoma, and I love South Africa. I want to buy a house in Cape Town, where I am going to build a thatched room. I’m also hoping to marry a South African woman, whether she’s black or white, as long as she understands my calling and my ancestors are happy about her,” said Heathfield.
Tsetse, who helped Heathfield find a trainer, said: “I am a white sangoma who graduated last year and I was happy to bring Thomas here. He has finally graduated and has joined the rest of the sangomas in the world.”
According to Heathfield’s parents, Ally and Brian Heathfield, becoming a sangoma was the best thing to happen to their son.
“This is a completely different cultural practice, but we are happy that our son managed to combine it with ours,” said Ally.
Heathfield’s trainers, Gogo Dingani and her husband, Gogo Xindlovana, have trained more than 20 white sangomas and 500 black sangomas at their home in Mangweni.
The two are members of the Traditional Healers Organisation and their graduates come from Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe as well as all nine provinces of South Africa. – African Eye News Service