Naughty baboons make life difficult

MATSULU – In a village on the outskirts of this township, community members are at their wit’s end because mischievous baboons are trespassing in their homes.

The baboons steal everything, from maize meal to money, they claim. Matsulu is a few kilometres away from the Kruger National Park.

“We’ve always lived with baboons in this area and we’ve seen them feeding on our food but what they do now is human-like. Some people are using them for their personal selfish gain,” said Lazarus Makhomba.

“We’ve heard stories of people who died after fighting or killing animals which had been doctored by witches and we don’t want the same thing to happen to us. Some lost their speech just because they shouted at animals used by witches,” said a Reginah Khoza.

Khoza further claimed that at some point she was confronted by a congress of baboons, and when she tried to scare them away they just gave her a horrible stare and she had to run away.

“I mean, they were supposed to be scared of human beings but no, they now want us to be scared of them,” she angrily exclaimed.

“These animals are silly and I believe they enjoy picking on humans and I don’t think slapping them or scaring them away could endanger anyone’s life. I think people are just overreacting,” said Mfana Lubisi.

She said that people should just live with the fact that they chose to live in a place surrounded by bushes where baboons are common.

In an attempt to establish the truth behind claims that wizards are capable of using baboons to perform their evil duties, Mpumalanga News spoke to a traditional healer, Baba Msiza from Masoyi, who acknowledged that baboons and wild cats are the most useful animals for witchcraft.

“If the baboons that were seen by the residents have had their tails cut short, they are definitely used for witchcraft and killing them could be dangerous for the people, depending on the strength of the muti used,” Msiza said.