Teacher 'turns into a goat'

Pupils at a Bulawayo college ran out of class during a lesson after a teacher started making goat sounds while teaching.

The teacher is employed at a college (name withheld) in Bulawayo city centre. According to sources, the teacher, Alfred Mathe, made the sounds on Thursday last week while imparting mathematical knowledge to his students.

"I only saw my school mates bolting out of the class. When I asked them what was happening they directed me to their class. Naturally I could not go there because I also feared what they were running away from," said the source.

It is reported that some teachers, accompanied by security personnel, later went on to check what was taking place. They are said to have found their colleague still making goat sounds.

"He was writhing in the floor while making some queer noises. We suspected that someone was using juju on him. It could also be that he stole the goat that was tormenting him," said one of the teachers.

Mathe also reportedly started crawling saying he was a goat and that he wanted to eat grass. He was quoted saying "I'm a goat, I'm a goat, I'm craving for grass".

Some teachers who could not take another sight at Mathe allegedly fled the scene.

"It was like a movie. It was quite scary. I don't blame them for fleeing," said the source.

The man is said to have stopped making the noise after one hour. Sources revealed that the teacher told his colleagues that someone was telling him to be a goat.

"He looked dazed but he was saying someone was telling him to be a goat. He however, stopped after an hour and was taken home. He is still recovering at home and from my understanding he also saw a traditional healer and I don't know what was the outcome," said another witness.

Our news crew also caught up with some students who were in Mathe's class. The pupils acknowledged that they were still distressed.

"It was a frightening sight. The scene of the place where it happened sends me into shivers," said one pupil.

An official at the college CONFIRMED the incident saying Mathe had been given off-days.

"We gave him time to recover. We will see what happens when he comes back," he said.

When contacted for comment, Mathe refused to shed more light over the incident.

"I prefer not to talk about the issue," he said.