A FAKE traditional doctor allegedly swindled R25000 out of a bereaved Mthatha hawker by promising to bring her dead son back to life.
The “doctor”, who was subsequently arrested, appeared in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court last Friday on charges of fraud and impersonation.
The case was postponed to April 8 .
The woman’s 18-year-old son died in February after returning from initiation school with chest pains and swollen feet. She consulted the “traditional doctor” when she saw an advert in a Mthatha newspaper promising magical healing powers.
The grieving mom said she’d had “funny” experiences after burying her son.
“I heard knocks on the door at odd hours. Leftover food disappeared and we would wake up to find firewood which had been outside packed inside the house. Out of motherly love I decided to give it a try,” she said.
The mother of four asked not to be identified because her family are respected churchgoers and did not want to be a laughing stock . It is believed that two other men also involved in the scam have not been arrested yet.
The hawker said she was taken to a river near Corhana where she heard an “ancestor’s” voice confirming that her son was still alive and being kept against his will in Limpopo. The conmen asked her to bring R200, a bottle of gin and snuff powder to communicate with her dead son.
They also asked her to buy new clothes for the dead teen, pay more than R2500 and buy a goat whose coat had four different colours.
“I’ ve never seen a goat with four colours in my life but when you’ re in a predicament your mind goes blank,” said the hawker, who was clearly embarrassed by the fact that she had fallen for the scam.
On the third day, she said she was asked for R10500 and taken to Seteni cemetery near Mbuqe extension, where she was told to kneel and look backwards. Then a figure wearing clothes just like those she had bought appeared behind a tombstone about 50m away and disappeared.
When she called her child’s name the figure did not respond and she was told this was because his tongue had been “nailed” down.
The payment of the R10500 would remove the nail and allow her “dead” son to talk.
The victim said her husband got involved after she told him she saw their child, and it was only a matter of days before he returned home.
But she did not tell him about the money as she had been promised it would be returned to her.
The woman then paid more money to remove evil spirits from her house in preparation for the return of her child.
“I had high hopes and loaded the whole family in taxis to go and fetch my son at the graveyard as promised.”
The woman and her husband drove with the conman in his vehicle. But instead of going to the graveyard they were driven around town.
After her son failed to appear the conman tried to get rid of the couple but they refused to get out of his car until they had seen their child. He then approached police and said the couple were hijacking his car.
After investigating the matter, police arrested him.
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela confirmed that police confiscated medication from the bogus doctor’s surgery.
Sad mom falls prey to scam
The “doctor”, who was subsequently arrested, appeared in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court last Friday on charges of fraud and impersonation.
The case was postponed to April 8 .
The woman’s 18-year-old son died in February after returning from initiation school with chest pains and swollen feet. She consulted the “traditional doctor” when she saw an advert in a Mthatha newspaper promising magical healing powers.
The grieving mom said she’d had “funny” experiences after burying her son.
“I heard knocks on the door at odd hours. Leftover food disappeared and we would wake up to find firewood which had been outside packed inside the house. Out of motherly love I decided to give it a try,” she said.
The mother of four asked not to be identified because her family are respected churchgoers and did not want to be a laughing stock . It is believed that two other men also involved in the scam have not been arrested yet.
The hawker said she was taken to a river near Corhana where she heard an “ancestor’s” voice confirming that her son was still alive and being kept against his will in Limpopo. The conmen asked her to bring R200, a bottle of gin and snuff powder to communicate with her dead son.
They also asked her to buy new clothes for the dead teen, pay more than R2500 and buy a goat whose coat had four different colours.
“I’ ve never seen a goat with four colours in my life but when you’ re in a predicament your mind goes blank,” said the hawker, who was clearly embarrassed by the fact that she had fallen for the scam.
On the third day, she said she was asked for R10500 and taken to Seteni cemetery near Mbuqe extension, where she was told to kneel and look backwards. Then a figure wearing clothes just like those she had bought appeared behind a tombstone about 50m away and disappeared.
When she called her child’s name the figure did not respond and she was told this was because his tongue had been “nailed” down.
The payment of the R10500 would remove the nail and allow her “dead” son to talk.
The victim said her husband got involved after she told him she saw their child, and it was only a matter of days before he returned home.
But she did not tell him about the money as she had been promised it would be returned to her.
The woman then paid more money to remove evil spirits from her house in preparation for the return of her child.
“I had high hopes and loaded the whole family in taxis to go and fetch my son at the graveyard as promised.”
The woman and her husband drove with the conman in his vehicle. But instead of going to the graveyard they were driven around town.
After her son failed to appear the conman tried to get rid of the couple but they refused to get out of his car until they had seen their child. He then approached police and said the couple were hijacking his car.
After investigating the matter, police arrested him.
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela confirmed that police confiscated medication from the bogus doctor’s surgery.
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