Online Reporter
Mzala Tom
In the Magwegwe suburb of Bulawayo, there is a well-built male ghost with dreadlocks who is hailed as a crime fighter. His name, is Bongani. (Ndebele name meaning ‘give thanks’). Many women who have had an encounter with him give positive reviews about him.
They say he normally introduces himself as Bongani and for several minutes appears human, but then suddenly vanishes.
Bongani does not talk to men. He loves chatting with the fairer sex. He is a woman’s best friend. Bongani has rescued several ladies in distress, including a woman who was about to be gang-raped by four men in Magwegwe township.
They dragged her into the nearby cemetery with the intention of gang-raping her. Suddenly, they saw a flash of light from a distance. When it appeared again, it was very close to them and the figure of a dreadlocked man became visible. In great fear they shouted ispoko! and fled!
Nobuhle Hlatshwayo aged 71 says she had a brush with Bongani in 2011.
“I was coming from Botswana and I arrived around 1am on Christmas Eve. I saw a well-built dreadlocked man who was dressed in white. He offered to help me carry my luggage.
He said he was Bongani and was polite and very charming. I let him carry my bags. As we were talking, we met one of my neighbours. I turned to introduce the Rasta but he had disappeared, leaving my bags on the ground.”
A woman says on her way home in pitch darkness she saw a man dressed in white and she decided to walk with him out of fear. No matter how much she picked pace, the distance between her and the figure remained constant. The figure vanished when she reached the gate to her home.
Another man says on his way home he saw a dreadlocked guy just standing by the road. He tried to greet the ghost twice but he ignored him. The small hairs at the back of his neck bristled when he was told that he had actually walked within a few metres from the ghost.
David Mhabinyana Ngwenya, the president of the International Traditional Healers Association, who is also the vice-president of Traditional Medical Practitioners Council (TMPC), says ghosts do exist. He describes ghosts like Bongani as ithonga in Ndebele.
Ithonga is a type of ghost that appears in human form. It’s normally someone who died a sudden death. The spirit would be lost between this world and the next and may not actually know it is dead. Generally, it is harmless and people may only get injured running away from it.”
Residents say the ghost appears between 12 midnight and 3am by the traffic light controlled intersection near Hyde Park Cemetery along Masiyephambili Drive around the Number 6 area.
Another woman says she met Bongani on New Year’s Eve around 2am when coming from church and he talked very nicely to her. She did not feel threatened at all. When she was about to get home, a car appeared and blinded both of them with its headlights & Bongani vanished!
Another woman shocked her family when she got home trembling and unable to speak. When she had recovered, she said she met a dreadlocked man wearing a white T-shirt who started proposing to her and when she got angry and shouted at him, he disappeared right in front of her eyes!
