Zimbabwean sangoma making a fortune in South Africa

He calls himself Sekuru Ziso - in Shona, "the grandfather who sees". He is 55, a fortune teller and a traditional doctor, GroundUP reported.

He has come from Chipinge, a district in south-east Zimbabwe, known for its herbalists.

"I came to South Africa first in June 2016. I was told business is brisk among ‘illegal' gold miners."

He says he has already been deported once, after rival South African sangomas told police he was an undocumented immigrant.

His customers are scores of young Zimbabwean men who risk life and limb in the disused gold mines on Gauteng's East Rand, in Barberton in Mpumalanga, and Welkom in the Free State. It is dangerous work. It is also governed by luck; the chance of finding gold.

It is not surprising then that some turn to men such as Ziso. They believe he speaks to their ancestors to guarantee their safety. He burns incense, sprays "magic water", and shakes dried rabbit bones. These tools of his trade are called "hakata", meaning "drop message".

Chosen by ancestors

Ziso says he has been telling fortunes since he was 16.

"I didn't attend a sangoma school like you do here in South Africa. I'm chosen by ancestors. I can't read or write fancy words, but I can chat to your ancestors, and thus predict tomorrow."

When GroundUp visits him, he is making a concoction for his clients who are planning to slip into a mine in Randfontein, on Gauteng's West Rand.

"This operation needs stronger, fresh incense to guard the boys' spirits, because I see in my dreams this mine is policed by uniformed men with black guns," says Ziso.

He has different rates for various "levels" of protection. "Level one. I pray to protect young men from maphogo mine guards in less rich mines." (The maphogo are security guards on patrol in the gold mines on the East Rand.)

This level costs R300.

"Level 2. I pray to prevent rock falls from hurting the ‘boys' at rich mines like Welkom. This service, I charge R2 000."

He tells the miners never to go into these mines without his prayer beads.

"I need to watch your ancestors while you are working underground."

"Level 3 prayer is my highest. I work the spirits of high-value gold buyers and miners who try to enter rich legal mines like the ones in Carletonville."

For this, he charges R5 000 once a year.

Playing on fears

Ziso concedes he plays on the fears that diggers have about entering old, crumbling mines and calms their nerves with prayers.

A 25-year-old miner who operates in Barberton refuses to consult or pay for Ziso's services.

"I'm a Christian. His rituals are helpless gimmicks. He crooks people out of their money, I think. I don't need his salts under my feet."

Ziso has a service for the gold buyers too he explains.

"I plant my dry chicken bones in their homes so that when they are smelting the gold ore, police or sophisticated robbers can never visit them."

A gold buyer who operates illegally in Bekkersdal says: "Sekuru Ziso is my man. When you want a prayer to prevent mine police from fishing out my boys working underground."

He helps Ziso's prayers come true by paying off corrupt mine supervisors. He claims the bribes cost up to R30 000 a year. They help him smuggle up to five diggers at a time into the tunnels of mines still in operation. The miners enter wearing helmets, overalls, and torches to look like employees.

After working underground for up to three months, playing hide-and-seek with the mine guards, each of them repays the gold buyer the R30 000 bribe, plus a commission of about R15 000. It is lucrative. Continued arrests, rock falls, and deaths don't stop the trade.

"I bought Ziso a maize grinding-mill back home in Zimbabwe when his prayers helped my illegal miners win a court case and get released from jail," claims the gold buyer. He pays Ziso R5 000 to "clean his boys' spirits".

'We believe him'

Edgar, a 27-year-old immigrant from Zimbabwe, who successfully slipped into a mine in Carletonville and made enough money to buy a lorry, says Ziso's rituals work for him.

"Last time, we went down Carletonville mine, he bathed us in a bucket of paraffin, undressed for two hours. He said the paraffin's strong smell would wash away bad spirits and mine rock falls. We believe him. That is why we pay."

"Whenever your relative or friend, an illegal miner is arrested – just bring to me a piece of his clothing and R1 800," Ziso says.

"I spray my incense water on his clothing and pray with the garment in the mountains for a day," he says, pointing to a low hill on the N3 to Durban, just outside Alberton, Gauteng.

Ziso initially set up a herbal street stall at Duduza Mall in KwaThema, on the East Rand. He was unable to protect himself from arrest as an undocumented immigrant and was deported to Zimbabwe in January, after spending three weeks at Lindela Detention Centre in Krugersdorp.

"In the evening, I was back across the border, in South Africa."

Two gold buyers in Springs paid R3 000 for a smuggler to ferry him back.

Ziso says he makes a good profit and is saving money to buy cattle when he returns to Zimbabwe at the end of 2017.

He came to South Africa because he struggled to compete with churches.

"Pentecostal churches, miracle churches," he sighs and shakes his head.

"They are drawing too many people to mega-money churches, virtually killing sangomas and herbalist businesses in Zimbabwe."