Isintu Siyabukwa group convene at the Jukskei River
A large group of people were seen at the scene where congregated at the Jukskei River for what is believed to be a religious ceremony.
One of the country’s most well-known sangoma’s was spotted at the Jukskei River on October 14 and 15, although the reason for her visit was unclear.
Residents could not understand what was happening as traffic backed up and hundreds of people flocked to the river to take part in what appeared to be religious rituals. According to ward 115 councillor Mark van der Merwe, “This weekend’s mass religious service conducted on the Jukskei River near Lonehill is a situation of ongoing concern. We have seen these services illegally happening without Joint Operational Command (JOC) approval for over two years in Ward 106 Robyn Park and more recently Juweel Park in Ward 115.”
Van der Merwe was not only concerned by the number of people present but also with the contravention of by-laws. “There are issues with the slaughtering of live chickens in contravention of the by-laws.”
This journalist personally witnessed the slaughtering of multiple chickens over the course of the weekend.
Some of the residents surrounding the area were shocked to see people naked going in and out of the river. “I have never seen anything like this in my life. Not only was it shocking but I am honestly not sure if this is legal,” said a resident passing by.
Van der Merwe said that a number of by-laws had been broken during the gathering. “There was the beating of drums at 02:30 in the morning and that is against noise disturbance by-laws. The conducting of circumcisions and leaving of foreskins around the area is a contravention of health by-laws. Littering and parking of motor vehicles in the various parks and illegally on the roads is a contravention of by-laws,” Van der Merwe added.
He urged the city’s various entities to step up and maintain law and order.
“I do understand that there is an overarching issue of the Constitutional Laws granting freedom of expression and freedom of religious rights, but those rights have to be expressed within the mandate of all other laws and requirements,” he said.
The Sangoma, referred to by her initiates as Gogo, and her group are popularly known as Isintu Siyabukwa. They are from East London in the Eastern Cape Province. When the Fourways Review approached members of the team for more information, they were taken to speak with the Sangoma herself.
‘Gogo’ refused to provide her first name but did go on to say: “The media did not make me so why should they show up now trying to find out what is going on? If people are asking themselves what is going on here let it stay that way. Let them stay curious. Let them stay without knowledge of what is happening here and keep complaining,” she said. She elaborated more on how she does not want anything to do with the media because it can either make you or break you. “I dare someone to write about us without having any information. We will simply take that person to court,” she added.
The Fourways Review was only able to contact JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla on Monday to request a response which was an insufficient amount of time for him to respond before the paper went to print. We will publish his response in a follow-up edition.
Related Article:
Jukskei Park family has had enough of church rituals at the river
