Tsikamutanda refuses to vacate village

Siphilisiwe Mloyi
A TSIKAMUTANDA hired by a family from Halale village in Matopo is refusing to leave the village after his exorcism mission raised a stink.

The tsikamutanda identified as Siziba from Binga, reportedly arrived at the village sometime in February hired by the Zungus to exorcise pestering spirits.

Contrary to the usual procedure of carrying out cleansing ceremonies with the permission of village authorities, Siziba did not bother to liaise with the authorities.

a�?What surprised everyone in the village is that the witch-hunter was supposed to go back to Binga after finishing off his business with the Zungu family, but now he is going about trying to cleanse the whole village,a�? said Edmos Moyo, a villager.

Siziba, who still resides at Zungua��s homestead, went on to hire a few young men to be his security details.

a�?He even hired a group of youths claiming to be his security,a�? said Moyo.

Tired of his antics, the local leaders are said to have tried to send the witch-hunter packing but to no avail as he is not willing to depart from the village.

a�?I received the report from the neighbourhood watch committee that Siziba was refusing to leave Halale. He goes around planting objects in peoplea��s homesteads. When he removes them he claims beasts as payment for work,a�? said Chief Masuku.

According to the villagers, the witch-hunter used his security details to spy on certain homes then report back to him.

a�?The gang assesses homesteads and reports everything to their leader. From there he approaches his victims claiming he can cleanse their homes of evil spirits.

a�?As such, we have a number of occasions where he has approached some of the villagers on such a claim. One of his gang members confided their operations to me as he said they were sent to plant objects in their victimsa�� homes,a�? Moyo said.

Those who comply are said to part with goats, cattle and money. However, members of the community accuse Siziba of using unorthodox means to make a living.

a�?He is just a fraudster doing anything to make ends meet. Ita��s so sad because he does all that at the expense of poor desperate villagers,a�? said Moyo.

The chief has since summoned the witch-hunter to his court.

Zungu was not readily available for comment.

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