Mr. President, please...

Calls to make witchcraft a criminal offence as 81-year-old woman stabbed 50 times

mindmapsza — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:02:00 +0000

An 81-year-old woman in KwaKwiliza near Mtubatuba in KwaZulu-Natal was stabbed 50 times and had her throat slit because her neighbour accused her of being a witch. According to the police he was of the belief that the elderly woman had killed two members of his family members through using witchcraft.

Captain Jabulani Mdletshe said that the police were called to the scene but the man had already escaped.

This incident, one of thousands that have taken place down the years, should give us reason to pause and consider whether the time has not arrived to make witchcraft a criminal offence.

The basis therefore is not based upon religious conviction but rather the very real need to give people access to the law before they murder any more innocent people. The only alternative being the introduction of the death penalty for any party who commits murder based upon the premise that the victim is a witch.

While there will no doubt be an uproar regarding the limitation of religious freedom in South Africa, something entrenched in the Constitution, there appears to be a deafening silence every time people branded as witches are horrendously slaughtered.

When Mpumalanga tried to introduce the Witchcraft Suppression Bill of 2007 they were met with fierce resistance. “The purpose of the bill is to suppress Acts of witchcraft including naming and pointing of any body as a wizard or witch. To deal with the violence associated with allegations of witchcraft and deal with killings including ritual killing associated with witchcraft and empowering Traditional leaders to deal with Witchcraft aspects.”

It defines Witchcraft as: The secret use of muti, zombies, spells, spirits, magic powders, water, mixtures, etc, by any person with the purpose of causing harm, damage, sickness to others or their property.

“Self-defined Witches have rejected this definition on the grounds that it stereotypes witchcraft as harmful and portrays Witches as a danger to the communities within which they live and work. The proposed definition will merely serve to justify public fear of witchcraft and promote malice and violence against suspected witches.” (Wikipedia)

The problem is that a huge number of South Africans believe in witchcraft and the ability of witches to occasion deadly consequences for those that cross them. That is not going to go away.

Neither is the fact that once a “victim of witchcraft” believes that they are under attack then the party whom they consider to be the witch is in deadly danger. If they are lucky enough to be identified thought may be given to putting them into some kind of witness protection program.

Unfortunately very few are that lucky.

Anyone can be “sniffed” out as a witch and then has the misfortune of a visit like the one described above awaiting them.

So until such time as someone can put forward a better suggestion for protecting people accused of witchcraft – and not the current law which makes it offence to call someone a witch – legislation to make it a criminal offence to be a witch seems to be the only answer. In tandem that anyone now possessed of this legal channel to accuse witches, who practices self help, be given the stiffest possible sentences available to a court faced with that charge.

Denying some form of religious freedom is very ugly but what happened to an 81-year-old woman and many others like her is far uglier.

Sapa-RS

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therichmarksentinel.com

You, African youth arise – Obama screamed

mindmapsza — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:32:03 +0000

So far, he is the century’s symbol of inspiration. The US president Barack Obama speaks and the world, or at least his intended audience, moves. His latest major audience of a specific target was the African continent. Speaking in Accra two days ago, Obama shared with the world what the policy of his administration in Washington is going to be for Africa. It was clear that democratic accountability and human rights are some of the issues that are going to be supreme. Yet if inspiration was anything to go by in his speech, then it came out clearly that the first African-American US president spoke to the young of what is arguably the poorest continent – Africa.

Obama reminded the youth in Africa of their huge numerical potential and the possibilities that come along with that it, and oh yes, hundreds of thousands if not millions across the continent felt stirred up. Yet this was not the first time young Africans were being appealed to that they are the hope, the bedrock and the determinants of the destiny, not just of Africa but the whole world. Unfortunately, the African youth seem not ever understand this fact. However, one hopes that the inspiring words of Obama may change this mentality forever.

In every election, every single politician will make it plain the importance, the influence and the role that young people have in the development of society. True that is going to be the time they will remember that young people play football; so they organize some competitions; and indeed for the first time in probably five years, you may see the entire community coming together to share a happy moment. They watch the youngsters and cheer; before and after the game(s) they may listen to their (aspiring) leaders articulating developmental issues for their community. Talk about the mobilisation capacity of young people.

Unfortunately, here they are used as mere tools. After elections, the youngsters go back wallowing in their usual hopelessness while the men and women who were yesterday explaining young people’s importance for development are busy marrying one woman or husband after another, buying the latest models of vehicles and so on. They wait to look for the youth again after five years. In the meantime, it is broad daylight official robbery hidden in the term ‘corruption.’

Source: The Independent

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Mr. President, please…

mindmapsza — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:53:32 +0000

Welcome to “Mr. President, please…”

This initiative was inspired by “On day One“, an Internet based initiative to collect and collate suggestions from the people of the USA to be handed to the new President of the USA on the day when he takes up office.

It is a great idea. Ideas are not the prerogative of the government of a country. Indeed, governments are supposed to listen to the needs of the people of the country, and act on them. Ideas can come from anyone, or any group. The challenge is to collate and cumulate and communicate ideas – a process that can in itself lead to the stimulation of further ideas.

This initiative will:

Provide a channel for the stimulation and collection of ideas;
Present these ideas to the President of South Africa on a quarterly basis;
Collate and present a MediaWatch service on topical and strategic issues to serve as further stimulus for ideas;
Scan the Net for ideas turned into benefits in other parts of the world to further stimulate local thoughts and ideas.

We invite every Ghanaian and any person with a stake in South Africa or Africa to join us on this exciting journey.

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