Sangoma predicts death if girl with stomach full of soil has operation

16 year-old Yolanda Jwaqa from Snake Park in Soweto has a swollen tummy since 2012 and her condition forced her to leave school in grade 7 at Thathane Primary School in Zola, Soweto.

Last year her family took her to Leratong Hospital in Kagiso, west of Johannesburg, where a scan revealed that her stomach was full of water and dust.

A second scan revealed that her stomach was full of soil particles.

A doctor diagnosed that had ovarian cancer and should have an operation.

But her family consulted a traditional healer in the Eastern Cape town of Engcobo, who told them that if the girl was taken for an operation, she would die.

Yolanda wants to be healed and go back to school, but she doesn't want to have an operation.

"I want to see this thing inside me out," she said.

Dr Rifumo Mbhiza, a general practitioner with a private surgery in Limpopo, said: "Yolanda suffers from cancer of the ovary called Teratoma.

"We get all these strange things like teeth, hair and soil found in people who suffer from this cancer.

"I would like to discourage the family from taking the girl to sangomas."

Yolanda's aunt, Nothandelakhe Sigcawu, said: "We can't dare take her for an operation because she'll die.

"All we want is a traditional healer who'll heal her."

Traditional healer Mathapo Mofokeng from Fochville, Gauteng, said some people had done this bad thing to Yolanda to hurt her parents.

She said only traditional healers and prayers could heal her.