© 2018 Dr Margaret Sheppard
In 1978 a young wife from my Kgotla died. She suddenly became ill after eating poisoned porridge. She turned yellow, her stomach swelled up, and she vomited continuously. The Seventh Day Adventist Hospital n Kanye could not help her and it was said by them to be as the result of Tswana poisons. Later, through divination and evidence, it became apparent that the dead woman had been given poisoned porridge by a woman who had wanted her own daughter to be married by the widower. (This would in fact have been a traditionally "preferred marriage" as the mother of the widower and the sorcerer were sisters.)
This above sorcerer was very much feared in our Kgotla. In 1980, a girl at the home where I stayed became pregnant by one of the above widower’s brothers, who wanted to marry her. She refused the marriage, fearing that she too could be killed by the boy's maternal aunt as that woman still had unmarried daughters. The pregnant woman even claimed (for her safety) to be pregnant by a totally different boyfriend .
One of my informants fell in love with and became pregnant by a man who wanted to marry her. Previously this man had had two children with another woman whom after the first pregnancy and its kgotla case, he had agreed to marry. When he met my informant, who was ignorant of his engagement, he had changed his mind, but continued to support his children.My informant had a miscarriage.
The next year she again became pregnant and was often very ill during her pregnancy causing her to take sick leave from her work. She also started to have several problems at her work with her colleagues and superiors who seemed to blame her unjustifiably. She decided to consult a traditional doctor when some money went missing at work.
The traditional doctor (whose divination I observed) found from his bones that she was being bewitched by various people. People at work were jealous of her success and promotions, and were therefore trying to make a trap which would result in her being falsely accused of stealing money so that she would be sacked. Her boyfriend really did love her and he had even told his family who had agreed to his proposal to marry her, but a sorcerer from her kgotla had bewitched her home so that no one could be married from her immediate family. This sorcerer and her sorcerer companions had buried their sorcery in her yard and some more of it had been buried to the West of the yard. This latter, the doctor could "see" was old sorcery.
In fact in my informant's family no one was married. Her oldest sister (in her 40's) had two children, 2 others had died, these deceased children had been bewitched to die by a jealous previous fiance of their father. When these two children died he had decided not to marry the mother. In 1982 she had had another baby, which was weak from birth, and by early 1984 had been discovered to have an incurable and fatal heart condition. One of her two surviving children was also discovered to be in poor health. Men are reluctant to marry a woman whose children die.
The second sister had three living children. Each of their fathers had wanted to marry her, but had mysteriously disappeared, The last of these in 1982. A kgotla case had been held for a fourth child (the first) damages had been awarded, but when the baby died shortly after birth, and the mother had been dangerously ill for about a year, sorcery was divined and the family through fear for their daughter’s safety, had consequently decided to drop the case.
The youngest sister had become engaged. By 1983 she had two children but there were serious problems, her fiance did not support her, and in fact took most of her earnings, besides being unfaithful to her.
Of my informants' three brothers, each had children and had agreed to marry the mothers, but all had developed serious drink problems leading them to waste all their earnings rather than saving their earnings to prepare for and to complete their marriages.
Therefore when I completed by fieldwork it looked as though the sorcery to prevent marriage in that family was succeeding.
Another informant was a Zionist, and a fellow kgotla member. She had one son at primary school. She had then become engaged to another man, a fellow Zionist. Sorcerers of her kgotla were supposed to be very jealous of the marriage because her fiance was from a rich family, had a good job in the South African mines and owned a tractor and pick-
This was so that she would be safer from the sorcerers from her own kgotla who were trying to prevent her marriage. Fortunately the baby survived.The next year her fiance's parents requested that she should go and help them at their Lands. While she was fetching water she stumbled and hurt her shoulder and neck. This was divined to be caused by the same sorcerers, so that she would be unable to work. Fortunately in 1981 she finally married and left to live at her husband's home. By 1983 she had had another child. In this case the protective medicines she was prescribed by the traditional doctor appeared to have succeeded.
The son of one of the families of the kgotla worked in the South African mines. He had long been engaged to a girl whom he supported and educated. The wedding was due to take place in 1979 and the dates were fixed by the two families concerned for the different parts of the marriag.
The day before the wedding at the bride's home, the bride disappeared. She was found in Lobatse waiting for the train to Selebi-
The marriage took place, but even after she had come to live with her in-
Traditional doctors consulted on this occasion, divined sorcery as causing her behaviour. Relatives of the bride and groom who were jealous of the marriage were divined as responsible. (The groom's relatives were jealous because they had wanted him to marry one of their daughters.)