Boy (13) miraculously escape crocodile’s jaws

15 January, 2011 11:10:00
By Hlengiwe Ndlovu

Witchcraft rumours are doing wild rounds at Tsakasile area in Croydon following a young boy’s miraculous escape from the vicious jaws of a crocodile.

The brave 13-year-old boy fought the crocodile at a swollen Mbuluzi River last week and managed to escape.

The community is pointing an accusing finger at an unnamed family for domesticating the reptile for witchcraft reasons. Although the witchcraft rumour was clearly baseless because none of the interviewed community members could substantiate it, but it clearly has gained momentum at Tsakasile. “That crocodile is a real menace and we know its owners.

“To people it may look like an ordinary crocodile, but as a community we have become aware that it’s tamed and the owners are keeping the poor reptile for witchcraft reasons just to terrorise the community,” said Selinah Magagula, who was in the company of another woman only identified as LaNkhosi.

Escape

After the boy’s miraculous escape, community members are saying all sorts of things about the crocodile and the witchcraft idea gains strength by the day. Narrating the community’s encounter with the crocodile, a resident, who is also a member of the Magagula clan, but refused to be identified said the crocodile was well known for terrorising livestock, especially goats. He said while the community was aware that crocodiles sometimes get vicious, but the crocodile in question was behaving strangely. “Imagine, this crocodile just attacks and kills goats, but it never eats them. “It only kills livestock and discards whatever it has killed next to the river. As a community we find this to be strange,” he said.

Owners

He alleged that the crocodile was ‘sent’ to kill goats so that the owners may be at loss. The rumour seems to have gained momentum as the residents allege that the crocodile was sent by its owners to terrorise their (owners) enemies.

The community wants the Big Game Parks to get rid of the vicious reptile. “We do not know what the owner’s real agenda is. We would feel much safer if the Big Game Parks would just take it away”. Tsakasile area is not the only African place to associate crocodiles with witchcraft.

In Tanzania, scholars Richard and Heather Scott conducted a study on crocodiles and the link to witchcraft beliefs.

In their findings, they discovered that there was a deep fear at Korogwe district as the community had a strong belief that crocodiles were tamed by certain individuals for witchcraft purposes. The community strongly believed that it was impossible to kill a tamed crocodile and that even if you tried to kill it, its owners would send it back to your house to kill you.

The tamed crocodiles in Tanzania are further widely believed to be assassins, disposing off enemies of their ‘owners’.

The study found that if any person was successful in killing a tamed crocodile, they should bury its bile in front of many witnesses to avoid the possibility that some might use it for poison.

Extensive

The Big Game Parks could not readily provide comment. An officer identified as Micheal said there would have to be extensive consultation with the relevant people in order for the Big Game Parks to provide an informed comment on the allegations.

http://www.observer.org.sz/index.php?news=19907