{"id":412844,"date":"2017-08-28T19:26:54","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T19:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2017\/08\/28\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\/"},"modified":"2017-08-28T19:26:54","modified_gmt":"2017-08-28T19:26:54","slug":"shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/08\/28\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Shock and fear amid South Africa cannibalism case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"> <\/aside>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">Fear has gripped the village of Shayamoya in South Africa\u2019s KwaZulu-Natal province after the discovery of a decapitated body.<\/p>\n<p>The family of Zanele Hlatshwayo, 25, who has been missing since July, believe she was a victim of a cannibalism ring that has so far led to the arrest of five men.<\/p>\n<p>Her decomposing body was found after a man who claimed to be a traditional healer handed himself over to police last week and confessed that he was tired of eating human flesh.<\/p>\n<p>Police officers had initially dismissed his statement, according to reports.<\/p>\n<p>It is only after he produced a bloodied hand and foot as proof that he was immediately arrested. He led them to his rented home, where police found eight human ears in a cooking pot.<\/p>\n<p>It is believed they were to be served to his customers, who were told they had magic properties and would convey money, power and protection.<\/p>\n<p>Several other body parts were found stuffed in a suitcase.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Hlatshwayo\u2019s bloodied and torn clothes were found among the human remains in the traditional healer\u2019s home.<\/p>\n<p>The clothes were identified by her family.<\/p>\n<p>However, police are still waiting for DNA test results to confirm if the remains belong to the mother of a two-year-old boy.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Hlatshwayo\u2019s family is yet to bury her. As I entered the Hlatshwayo homestead, I was greeted by a solemn hymn and the cries by the grieving family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can only imagine how she begged for her life, she died an extremely painful death,\u201d said her elder sister Nozipho Ntelele as she wiped away tears.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"\/>\n<p>\u201cHer clothes were covered in grass and dust, which is a clear indication that she had been in a struggle to save her life,\u201d said Ms Ntelele.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Foul smell<\/h2>\n<p>The traditional healer lived in a rented hut in Rensburgdrift near Escourt.<\/p>\n<p>He is nicknamed \u201cMkhonyovu\u201d which loosely translated means \u201cthe corrupt one or corruption\u201d in the local Zulu language.<\/p>\n<p>He rented the hut from Philani Magubane, whose brother was also arrested for being the traditional healer\u2019s alleged accomplice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was shocked to find out that my younger brother fell for the traditional healer\u2019s fairytales \u2013 he promised them wealth when he was just as poor as I am,\u201d Mr Magubane told me.<\/p>\n<p>He said that one his tenants had been complaining about the smell of rotting meat that was coming from his next door neighbour.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMkhonyovu only moved into the house two months ago \u2013 I had no idea that he kept human remains here because I don\u2019t live in the same yard,\u201d said Mr Magubane.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Magubane said he believes that his brother, along with three other young men, were lured by the traditional healer to work for him as they had been struggling to find jobs.<\/p>\n<p>It is alleged that he sent the young men to dig graves in the middle of the night so he could make magic charms known locally as \u201cmuti\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Residents confess to eating human flesh<\/h2>\n<p>Mthembeni Majola, a local politician, convened a community meeting shortly after the cannibalism suspects made their first court appearance last week.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-portrait has-caption full-width\"\/>\n<p>\u201cMost residents were shocked by this and now live in fear,\u201d but Mr Majola says others were not surprised.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA few confessed to have consulted with the traditional healer and knowingly ate human flesh,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut what has angered most of us here is how gullible our people have become,\u201d saying that Mkhonyovu\u2019s customers were livestock thieves who were told he could make them invincible, even bulletproof, so that the police could not shoot them, said Mr Majola.<\/p>\n<p>Phepsile Maseko, from South Africa\u2019s Traditional Healer\u2019s Organisation, has condemned the alleged cannibalism practices.<\/p>\n<p>She said \u201cMkhonyovu\u201d that was a fake healer who wanted to enrich himself and had brought \u201cour sacred practices into disrepute\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRitual killings and the use of human tissue are not part of traditional healing\u2026 this angers us as traditional healers because we have to constantly defend our honest work,\u201d said Ms Maseko.<\/p>\n<p>The five men, who were arraigned in court on Monday, amid public protests outside the courtroom, abandoned their bail request and will make another court appearance at the end of September.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a style=\"display:none\" rel=\"follow\" href=\"http:\/\/megatheme.ir\/\" title=\"\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633\">\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fear has gripped the village of Shayamoya in South Africa\u2019s KwaZulu-Natal province after the discovery of a decapitated body. The family of Zanele Hlatshwayo, 25, who has been missing since July, believe she was a victim of a cannibalism ring that has so far led to the arrest of five men. Her decomposing body was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":412845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-412844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Shock and fear amid South Africa cannibalism case - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/08\/28\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Shock and fear amid South Africa cannibalism case - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Fear has gripped the village of Shayamoya in South Africa\u2019s KwaZulu-Natal province after the discovery of a decapitated body. 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Her decomposing body was [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/28\\\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/28\\\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Shock and fear amid South Africa cannibalism case\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-28T19:26:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/28\\\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":709,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/28\\\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/28\\\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/28\\\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/28\\\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\\\/\",\"name\":\"Shock and fear amid South Africa cannibalism case - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/28\\\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/28\\\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-28T19:26:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/28\\\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/28\\\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2017\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Shock and fear amid South Africa cannibalism case - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/08\/28\/shock-and-fear-amid-south-africa-cannibalism-case\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Shock and fear amid South Africa cannibalism case - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Fear has gripped the village of Shayamoya in South Africa\u2019s KwaZulu-Natal province after the discovery of a decapitated body. 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