Politics of witchcraft and mental illness in the black communities
Posted: 21 October, 2022 Filed under: Konanani Happy Raligilia | Tags: Andile Mxakaz, brutal assaults, Christian state, cultural heritage, Jostina Sangweni, killings, legislative framework, mental illnesses, religious denominations, rural communities, Satanic church, scientific approaches, spirituality, Steve Biko, violence against women, witchcraft, Witchcraft Suppression Act in 1957 3 Comments
Author: Konanani Happy Raligilia
Acting HoD, Department of Jurisprudence, University of South Africa
When asked by Judge Boshoff about his views on witchcraft, Steve Biko had this to say; “we do not reject it [witchcraft], we regard it as part of the mystery of our cultural heritage, [and] we feel for ourselves it has not been sufficiently looked into with available scientific approaches as of this moment.” Indeed, issues relating to witchcraft are public interest matters and that is so because ordinarily they highlight conflicting and contending views about spirituality. Arguably, the attributing factor to this contesting view is the fact that at the time of the enactment of Witchcraft Suppression Act in 1957, South Africa was still a Christian state as opposed to the current secular post-democratic one which embraces all religious denominations and cultural heritage. The Witchcraft Suppression Act of 1957 exposes a reality that this law failed to divide matters of spirituality and witchcraft, thereby creating a vacuum which often results in members of the communities resorting to judging those who are perceived as witches based on Christian standards of acceptability and norms. Regrettably, the Witchcraft Suppression Act does not provide a definitive answer of what constitutes witchcraft, yet its founding purpose is aimed at suppressing practices of witchcraft and similar practices. However, Reverend Riaan Swiegelaar and Dr Adri Norton announced the country’s first Satanic church in June 2020. It remains to be seen whether its practices would fall out of this witchcraft’s legislative framework and whether those potential witchcraft practitioners would then be prosecuted and punished.
Extraction and right to food in Mozambique: Empty promises to empty plates
Posted: 24 August, 2015 Filed under: Nastasia Thebaud-Bouillon | Tags: access to education, Cabo Delgado, coal, development, extraction, extractive industries, foreign multinational companies, graphite, infertile land, mining, Mozambique, rural communities, social impact, Tete, urban development 1 Comment
Author: Nastasia Thebaud-Bouillon
Student (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa), Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria
Piece of land used to mean peace of mind in Mozambique. But the day extractive industries came in the North and started resettling communities, everything disappeared: piece of land alongside peace of mind. The cocktail was simple: a promise of new land, a better house and employment. The result was far from that; eviction without proper compensation, and relocation to empty bare lands with no opportunity to grow food for their subsistence. Not to mention that these resettlement lands were far from market opportunities.
Research conducted in Mozambique in April 2015 shows that mining has not brought the development and services communities expected in Tete and Cabo Delgado provinces in Northern and Central Mozambique. Extraction has often been conducted more to the detriment than to the benefits of host communities. This is mainly due to the lack of capacity of authorities in dealing with foreign multinational companies.
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