Prophets, sangomas team up to burn goblin, skulls

The mysterious objects and a suspected goblin that were dumped in the bush near Lushongwe Business centre in the Gwanda district have been destroyed. The suspected goblin was burnt last Sunday by local traditional leaders working with sangomas and prophets.

In separate interviews, traditional leaders, sangomas and prophets said they decided to destroy the mysterious objects because they believed the objects were dangerous to their children.

The Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (Zinatha) ward chairman Mr Japhet Moyo said the local community was afraid and there was panic because they feared the objects they believed were associated with witchcraft.

"There was panic among members of the community with some of them even afraid to use the road where the suspected goblin had been dumped. We saw it best to destroy the objects before it was too late," he said.

The village head, Mr Sikhumbuzo Nyathi, who is also a prophet, said they held a prayer before the destruction of the mysterious objects.

"We have heard cases where destruction of such objects ended up causing harm to those who would have destroyed them, but in our case nothing happened so far and we thank God for that. We shall keep praying that nothing negative happens to us and our community," he said.

Another villager, Mr Max Dube, said the dumped goblin had to be destroyed because their continued exposure to the public was taboo.

"What happened is really shocking and destroying the objects was the only way especially in protecting our children who were likely to be tempted to tamper with the mysterious objects," he said.

Villagers said they felt relieved after the burning of the mysterious objects.

"We are happy that those evil objects have been destroyed but we want further investigations to find out the culprit," said a villager, Ms Maria Sibanda.

The ward councillor, Mozitha Moyo, said  the community had approached suspects whom they believe dumped the goblin, but the suspects are said to have denied the allegations.

The suspected goblin and mysterious objects that included bones, snail and tortoise shells, animal skulls, snuff, knives and some red clothing were found dumped in a bush near Lushongwe Business Centre last week.