In the hut of Mma Sengede, Tumi removed his shoes and took a seat on the mat near the sangoma. She was in a trance-like state. He snapped his fingers, trying to wake her but got no response. Now he looked at her hopelessly, wondering if she would be of any help. He hadn’t wanted to come but felt he had no choice; it was after-all, for his own well-being.

“I’ve been expecting you Tumi, tell me what it is that you need?” she said knowingly, not once opening her eyes.

Tumi stood speechless. He had never met with this sangoma before and he was certain she had no access to any social media. He had blisters on his penis and Nkosi, his best friend, had directed him 200km towards Makhado to Mma Sengede.

Her reputation preceded her. She was clothed in a wine-red ankle length cloth, wearing a piercing white shoulder length wig on her head, altering her appearance to that of a wise old woman. But upon closer inspection she was hardly into her thirties. In each hand she was clutching tightly to a horse tail and a baboon’s hand.

Suddenly without warning, she belted out, “Vumani bo, my ancestors talk to me.” As if possessed, she shook her head.

Tumi was now stricken with fear by his ominous surrounding of animal skin and bones draping down the hut’s walls as decor. Terrified, he contemplated his options but eventually succumbed to his immediate need for help, otherwise the disease might spread further. Having heard lots of frightening stories about sangomas and their practices, he persuaded himself that he was in safe hands.

“You got sores on your genitals?” she asked in a low voice, yet to open her tightly clenched eyes.

“Yes,” he sighed in shame.

Mma Sengede got up slowly to retrieve three bottles of powder, each distinctly coloured. She poured them into separate brown pieces of paper and rolled them up tightly.

“Take this white powder, mix it with river water and bath yourself in it. Next, you must sleep with a virgin so you can heal your spirit. Apply the mixture on the virgin girl before you sleep with her,” she said, all in one breath.

Filled with questions, he looked intensely at Mma Sengede.

“Where do I find this virgin?”

“The rest is up to you now, do what needs to be done in order to be healed!” she said coldly, finally opening her pure white eyes that seemed to be staring into his soul.

“How long should I sleep with her?” he asked, shivering at the thought.

“As long as it takes to rid yourself of the sores,” she answered, placing a wooden bowl in front of him.

“How much do I owe you?” he asked, reaching into his back pocket.

“Two hundred,” she answered.

He took the two-hundred rand note out of his wallet and dropped it in the bowl. Nearly forgetting his shoes on his way out, he left for the taxi rank. He could hear Mma Sengede talking to ancestors. Her voice echoed in his ears.

As Tumi approached the taxi rank he put on his shoes without missing a step, the words of the sangoma playing on repeat in his head. How will I get a girl? he thought to himself. Kidnapping one seemed to be the easiest way, and she must younger than 15 to ensure that she was pure.

At home he changed into discrete clothing and then got into his car. He had left it behind in fear of being recognised by someone. People talked, and he didn’t want to take any chances. He sat there in an eerie silence while concocting his plan.

I can kidnap a girl and hide in her in Ga Mashishane, no one will know where to find her, no one will suspect me, he thought, his plan suddenly coming to life as he drove to Leyden in search of a virgin.

***

Tell us: Do you believe in what the sangoma said, that a virgin will cure Tumi?