SANGOMA: There’s snakes in my yard!
THE Ngobeni family believe they have no peace, thanks to snakes in their yard.
And they’ve killed at least 10 of them in the past seven days.
The family doesn’t know what to do anymore.
Alfred Ngobeni (29), a sangoma from Stinkwater in Tshwane, said the strange snakes started bothering them in 2012.
He suspected they’d brought a message and might be there to protect the family from evil spirits.
“I believe the ancestors want to talk to us by sending the brown snakes,” he said.
He said the snakes were not only in the yard, but also in the house and water well.
“They’ve not harmed anyone at the moment, but we’re concerned about the children.
“We’ve killed over 10 snakes in one week, and there are bigger snakes in our well,” he said.
Alfred’s herbalist dad, Dickson (70), said when he consulted izangoma, they told him the snakes were sent by amadlozi.
“We drink water from the snake well, there’s nothing we can do as we want water.
“I’m not scared of them, but we’re concerned about the children.”
Dickson said he spoke to amadlozi but they’d not responded.
However, sangoma Majoko Hlongwane’s opinion was that the snakes might have been sent by evil people.
“My advice to them is to find a powerful sangoma to chase the snakes away and protect their home,” she said.
Nicole Venter of the National Council of SPCAs asked Alfred for pictures of the snakes.
She said they’re harmless and they didn’t need to kill them.
“Alfred informed me the well is 22- metres deep. This leads me to believe the snakes went to the well looking for water and fell in.
“It’s common for snakes to be active this time of year. They keep pests such as rats and frogs at bay.
“People don’t need to kill a snake when they see one. Killing a snake is unnecessary and any snake could be one of the a protected species.”
Venter said the Tshwane and Centurion SPCA will visit the family to try to remove the snakes from the well.
