Limpopo lions being killed for muti that gives ‘power in business’

Four lions were killed in Limpopo over the weekend, driving speculation that body parts of the big cats are being used to make muti that reportedly gives users greater power in business and over people.

Police in Limpopo reported yesterday that two lions were killed in the Kwaggadans lion enclosure in Vaalwater, near Lephalale, on Friday night. Another pair was killed near Bushfellows Game Lodge in the Marble Hall area on Saturday.

The game farm owner in Marble Hall was patrolling the area when he came across the two dead lions. Limpopo police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said the lions’ heads and paws had been hacked off. The chests of both were cut open and organs were missing.

“No arrest has been made in the two incidents, but we have launched a manhunt for the suspects,” Ngoepe said yesterday. Police are also searching for the suspects who killed two lions in Vaalwater.

The suspects cut the Kwaggadans lion enclosure fence at night and poisoned two lions before fleeing. A prominent Limpopo traditional healer, who wished to remain anonymous, said certain parts of a lion are used as strong muti to cast a spell to protect people from rare ailments and to woo customers to a business.

“Other people use the muti to scare their enemies and protect themselves from attacks. In this regard, a traditional healer would use the heart or the adrenal glands,” said the healer.

Some other healers use the brains of lions to become strong, respected and feared within the community, he added.

– alexm@citizen.co.za