Human Sacrifice and the Supernatural in African History

Chapter 5. “Medicine murder” in Swaziland

Chapter 5 “Medicine murder” in Swaziland Introduction Swaziland (officially the Kingdom of Swaziland) is a small landlocked country bordered by South Africa to the north, south and west, and Mozambique to the east. It extends for about 120 miles from north to south and about 81 miles from east to west. Swaziland’s economy remains predominantly agrarian, with 75% of its population being engaged in subsistence agriculture on land that suffers from low productivity and limited capital investment. The private sector offers very limited wage employment (in mining, textiles and sugar-related processing ); besides migrant labor,1 the government is the biggest employer with government services contributing 50% of the GDP. Swaziland is a patriarchal society whose principal social unit is the homestead . The Swazi, like everyone else, do aspire for a good life. “The ultimate value in Swazi society is ‘good life’, Peter Kasenene writes, ‘which includes good health, wealth, mutual co-existence [with one’s neighbors], and harmony with the spiritual world.’”2 To have good health and to acquire power or wealth, a Swazi does not only depend on his labor but must also pray to God, known as Mvelinchanti (or Mkhulumnqande); Mvelinchanti is believed to be the determinative force and power, the source of everything.3 According to Kasenene, the Swazi believe that some cases of sickness, barrenness, or any other misfortunes, may be God’s way of punishing those who have transgressed his will or have wronged others.4 They also believe that misfortunes may be caused either by displeased ancestral spirits or the malevolent machinations of one’s neighbors. In the case of the former, rituals, offerings of beer and food, and sacrifices are required for propitiation purposes. Ancestral spirits are believed to have power 1 Many Swazi still find wage employment in neighboring South Africa. 2 Kasenene, Peter, Swazi traditional religion and society (Mbabane: University of Swaziland, 1993): 12. 3 Ibid, 14. 4 Ibid, 16. 92 Human Sacrifice and the Supernatural in African History to bestow blessings on the living and to protect them from evil-doers and misfortunes : “In return the people show gratitude to them by making offerings and sacrifices.”5 Moreover, the Swazi believe that God endows some people with special abilities which they can use either benevolently or maliciously. Thus diviners who are called tinyanga (s. inyanga) are believed to be “able to unveil the mysteries of nature and reveal what is hidden from the ordinary people.”6 They are consulted for all sorts of concerns including finding out whether a family will be fruitful or one’s farms will yield bumper harvests and if not, why. They prescribe rituals , sacrifices and provide “medicine” either to boost one’s wellbeing or protect them from misfortunes. Those who use their exceptional abilities malevolently are known as batsakatsi.7 The batsakatsi are sorcerers and witches. According to Kasenene, the Swazi attribute misfortunes especially those which have no apparent causes to the malicious activities of sorcerers and witches.8 Our understanding of Swazi concepts of divine providence and intervention is essential to understanding and to interpreting how in olden days to the present they have related to their natural environment especially in regard to the fertility of their land and cattle. In their cosmological scheme of things God may be the source of abundant life but it is the king who embodies the vitality of the Swazi nation. It is for this reason that traditional Swazi life is centered symbolically round the monarchy. The Swazi monarchy is an institution that is highly ritualized; it is consecrated annually by the Incwala festival which acknowledges and renews the king’s extraordinary powers. Depending on the phase of the moon the Incwala lasts for roughly three weeks each year, usually during late December or early January. However, several weeks before the ceremony, ritual specialists are sent out to the rivers and to the sea to gather sacred waters, plants, and other potent “medicines” with which to doctor the king.9 One of the rituals performed by the king is to spit powerful “medicines” to the east and to the west, symbolizing the renewal of the earth 5 Ibid, 20. 6 Ibid, 118. 7 Ibid, 122. 8 Ibid, 123. 9 Booth, Alan R. Swaziland: Tradition and Change in a Southern African Kingdom (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press; Hampshire, Eng.: Gower, 1983): 47–48. “Medicine murder” in Swaziland 93 in preparation for the coming cultivation cycle...