Grade 1 Diazville Primary School pupil Joslin Smith has allegedly been sold for muti. Photos: Facebook and iStock
The state alleges that her mother instructed Appollis and Van Rhyn to sell Joslin to a traditional healer for R20 000 to be used in muti.Kelly Smith during the Joslin Smith disappearance case at Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court on 7 March 2024 in Vredenburg.
Bontle’s neighbour Ntombikayise Ngwenya, her boyfriend and serial offender Collen Hlongwane and their friend Thapelo Ngomane, sangoma Samuel Tsela and his son Philasande Tsela were charged with the little girl’s rape, murder and mutilation. In a video recording widely circulated on social media, one of the suspects, Ngomane confessed to how they dismembered Bontle’s body and removed her womb and her knees on instruction of a sangoma.
A criminal could approach a sangoma for muti which will make him bullet-proof, invisible, or to prevent arrest. “It would not be the client himself who suggests the use of human body parts. The traditional healer is the one who decides what ingredients would be necessary to meet the client’s demands.”