By Ed Stoddard
JOHANNESBURG, June 15 (Reuters) – South Africa’s top
mineworkers union has accused a rival of using witchcraft to
boost recruiting, an allegation taken seriously among the rank
and file in a country where traditional spiritual beliefs are
widely held.
South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has been
locked in a violent battle for membership with the upstart
Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) at the
world’s largest platinum mine, run by Impala Platinum.
“One of the tools which is used strongly is ‘muti’,” NUM
General Secretary Frans Baleni told journalists on Thursday
night, referring to traditional medicines that can be made from
a range of ingredients including animal or human body parts.
Baleni said NUM’s members believed that AMCU had a “very
strong ‘sangoma’,” or witch doctor.
“One of the myths is that if you don’t toe the line,
especially if you are a man, if you defy them you might have
bedroom problems at home,” he said.
Sangomas are widely respected by South Africans of all walks
of life, including business leaders and politicians.
Baleni later told Reuters it was an issue that was not being
taken lightly because many workers believed in such things.
“We are taking it seriously as part of the tactics of this
union as our members are telling us about the use of sangomas
and muti,” Baleni said.
Continued…
