Elderly San woman laid to rest amid fears of witchcraft by the tribe

....as people there cried for food saying they have gone for three days without eating

One of the elderly San people living in Tsholotsho Balisi Moyo believed to be over 80 years old who died on Sunday at Tsholotsho District Hospital after she suffered acute blood shortage which was reportedly caused by some medication was on Tuesday laid to rest amid fears that the tribe is being haunted by witches who do not want their culture and language to be revived as the people who continue to die are those who are instrumental in the process.

This was confirmed by Davy Ndlovu, director of the Tsoro-o-tsoo Development Trust an organization fighting for the recognition of the Khoisan who has been marginalized since independence in Zimbabwe.

He said Moyo, one of the remaining willing native Tshwao san language speakers, was admitted in hospital suffering from acute blood shortage caused by some medication she was taking.

He said according to nursing staff at Tsholotsho hospital she needed four pints of blood at a cost of $500 the money she did not have.

Ndlovu said Moyo was admitted at the hospital on Tuesday last week and he (Ndlovu) was trying to raise the money as she was expected to be taken to Mpilo Hospital this week on Tuesday.

Ndlovu said Moyo was buried in Tsholotsho on Tuesday describing the situation as bad. He said when they arrived with the corpse people cried for about 20 minutes but there after they started asking for food he had managed to secure signifying that they were hungry.

"I had to rebuke them and they later told me that some of them had no decent meal for three days," said Ndlovu.

"The burial was well attended and most people were genuinely saddened by the passing of Basili. The challenge now is that the Tshwao speakers think that they are being targeted by people with witchcraft who do not want to see Tshwao being revitalised. They now strongly believe that all native speakers are going to die."

Ndlovu said the death of Balisi came at a time he had managed to get promises of funds from a number of people but had not physically received the money.

He said the challenge that the old woman faced was that after the death of her cousin Moffat Moyo she was left staying all alone and at this moment she was too frail and her feet were swollen.

Balisi Moyo joins other three most important Sam elders who died recently who were important in the writing of the history of the Khoisan and revival of their culture.

So far four San elderly people who were assisting in the documentation of the San language and revival of their culture have died. Close to 2000 San people are found in Zimbabwe's Tsholotsho and Plumtree areas.
The tribe is still marginalized and lagging behind in terms of development, education and other social amenities.