Man turns into thieving rat, caught after turning back into a human

TWENTY-year-old Simon Mofokeng from Dunusa, in southern Johannesburg, South Africa has claimed that he used muthi to turn himself into a rat at night so he could steal from people.

"I no longer want to be a rat," he said. "At night I go down to a stream wearing my sangoma clothes, carrying a wooden statue on my back like a baby," he said. "Then I throw a bottle into the water and I wait. And soon I start turning into a rat that can get into any locked house."

"I have stolen flour and money from many houses and the woman in charge of me pays me R1 000 a month," he said.

However, he got caught in the outside toilet of Julia Nhlapho's (52) house in Dunusa last Monday.

"I was on my way to rob the house but I was tired and fell asleep in the toilet," he said.

According to Simon, he must have turned back into a human being in his sleep.

Simon told Julia that he had been in her house to steal before and Julia confirmed her money regularly disappeared from the house.

"I always thought it was my son who was stealing my money but Simon could tell me where I had hidden my money and how much he had stolen. Then I believed him," she said.

Simon was beaten by the community and was forced to take them to the four elderly women that he allegedly works for. But they denied everything," said Julia.

A relative of Simon who did not want to be named said that as Christians they never suspected that their son could be involved in such evil deeds.