Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
A MYSTERIOUS text message accusing two siblings of sorcery, and blaming them for a relative’s death has ignited a bitter family feud in Mutasa, exposing long standing tensions and spiritual suspicions now being aired before Chief Mutasa’s community court.
Miriam Dzizawa and her brother, Misheck, sought the court’s intervention after receiving an SMS they described as defamatory and deeply unsettling.
The message branded them a witch and wizard respectively, allegedly responsible for the death of their elder brother, Justice.
What began as a shocking text has since spiralled into a full blown dispute, entangling claims of witchcraft, wizardry, ancestral wrath, and internal sabotage within the Dzizawa family.
Miriam told Chief Mutasa that the message arrived without warning and has shattered her peace of mind while tarnishing her reputation.
“In January, I received a text message accusing me and my brother, Misheck of killing Justice. We did not know where it had come from or who had sent it. I suspect that it was my brother’s children who sent the SMS,” said Mirriam, adding that the family was experiencing repeated misfortunes, which she believes fuelled the accusations.
“Men in the family are not employed, while females are not married. Those who are married are facing divorces, while family members are dying,” she said.
Misheck told the court that they tried to trace the origin of the text message through official channels but without success.
“We went to Econet and to the police to try and identify the owner of the number, but we did not get any joy. The number is not registered on EcoCash and it is switched off. There is no trace of the person behind the mischief,” he said, expressing emotional distress, and saying the accusation had damaged his sister’s mental well-being.
“My sister cries daily because of this matter. She hates being labelled a witch. The message stated that we killed our elder brother, Justice. We need help because we are being labelled the black sheep of the family,” he said.
Chief Mutasa confirmed that attempts to trace the number had failed.
“The person who sent you the message is a crook. The number is not registered on EcoCash, and we cannot see who it belongs to. As we speak, the phone is switched off, so we cannot even call it,” he said.
Faced with the mystery, the traditional leader advised the family to seek spiritual intervention to uncover the root of the conflict, and instructed them to consult a traditional healer to determine whether a deeper spiritual issue was affecting the family.
Following the directive, the Dzizawa family consulted a traditional healer, Gogo Chihera, whose findings added another layer to the already tense situation.
She reportedly told them that an unsettled ancestral spirit within the household was demanding attention and appeasement.
“There is an ancestral spirit in the family that is angry with all of you. It must be appeased,” she said, adding that the root of the problem lays within the family structure, pointing to a strained relationship between a late father and his widow.
“It is your stepmother who is behind all of this. She has bottlenecked the family’s blessings,” she reportedly told them, while also dismissing witchcraft and wizardry accusations against Miriam and Misheck.
“Both Miriam and Misheck are not evil. They have done nothing wrong. Their faces are being used spiritually by their elderly stepmother. Your late father sold the family’s ancestral spirits to his wife, a stranger, and now it is backfiring. If this is not corrected, you will all suffer and possibly die,” she warned.
The case has left the Dzizawa family divided between those who believe the spiritual explanation and those who suspect internal sabotage or technological deception behind the anonymous SMS.
