South Africa: A father who consulted a sangoma following a spate of bad luck was advised to have sex with his daughter in order to cleanse himself

Innocentia Ndlovu:

So the man went home and, for the next two years, raped his daughter until she fell pregnant at the age of 17.

Instead of bringing him luck, the incident has landed him in jail.

The man, who lives in KaNyamazane, pleaded guilty to rape when he appeared in Nelspruit Regional Court on Wednesday.

He testified that his life took a turn for the worse around June 2003, so he decided to consult a sangoma.

He said he thought he would be given muti. Instead, he said, he was instructed to sleep with his daughter.

He was arrested on December 18, 2005 when his daughter fell pregnant. The baby was born last year.

The man has been kept in custody and will reappear on September 19 when DNA tests will be presented in court. The tests are expected to confirm whether the child is his or not.

KaNyamazane police spokesperson, Constable Chicco Nkosi, the sangoma will not be arrested.

"We cannot arrest the sangoma as an accomplice because there is no evidence, other than the man's allegations. Police only work on evidence," he said.

According to Wikipedia, a sangoma "is a practitioner of herbal medicine, divination and counselling in traditional Nguni (Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi) societies of Southern Africa (effectively an African shaman)".