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Anger at inyanga afterlibido potion kills villager

SURVIVOR: Tshivhidzo Manenzhe was treated in hospital for dizziness, a headache and stomach ache after drinking a libido potion that allegedly killed his companion. Pic. Elijar Mushiana. © Sowetan.
SURVIVOR: Tshivhidzo Manenzhe was treated in hospital for dizziness, a headache and stomach ache after drinking a libido potion that allegedly killed his companion. Pic. Elijar Mushiana. © Sowetan.

Elijar Mushiana

Inyangas and the community of a village outside Thohoyandou, Limpopo, are seeking the truth about the death of a man after he drank muvusa-nkunzi, a libido-boosting mixture, allegedly given to him by a traditional healer.

The people of rural Tshivhazwaulu-Hanesengani are still mystified by the death of 44-year-old Enoch Ramusatheli. He died after drinking the potion.

Ramusatheli is said to have visited a local inyanga to seek help for erectile dysfunction.

Ramusatheli allegedly brought the mixture home and shared it with his four friends. Three of the men became suspicious and decided not to drink the muti.

But Ramusatheli and another man, Tshivhidzo Manenzhe, 41, drank it. Shortly thereafter the two complained about stomach aches, headaches and dizziness.

Ramusatheli was taken to Tshilidzini Hospital, where he died.

Manenzhe told Sowetan that Ramusatheli had brought the muti to them.

"We poured half a cup of the muti and mixed it with fresh milk and shared it," he said.

"After we had finished drinking the potion, we felt pain and Ramusatheli said the inyanga had told him that if they felt pain, it meant the muti was working.

"Within two hours, both of us started to urinate blood and we became weak and had to be rushed to the hospital," said Manenzhe.

Masala Makamu, 32, the traditional healer, confirmed that he had given Ramusatheli the muti to boost his libido and cleanse his kidneys.

He said Ramusatheli was supposed to have taken a teaspoonful of the powder and mix it with a cup of milk. The muti was meant to be taken over a week, not all at once.

Makamu rejected allegations that he had given Ramusatheli poison and said they were close friends.

"I gave him a kidney-cleaning muti powder called muvusa- nkunzi after he told me he was not performing well with his wife in bed," said Makamu.

Mbulaheni Neluvhola, the president of VhaVenda-Mbofho Traditional Healers, has vowed to stop Makamu from practising because he had tarnished the image of inyangas in the area.

Neluvhola said Makamu did not belong to any traditional healers' organisation and was operating unprofessionally.

"We are going to have a general meeting of healers to discuss this matter and take a resolution," said Neluvhola.

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