President Jacob Zuma’s call for a national cleansing ceremony should include cleansing the “roads of death”, the SA National Civic Organisation says

“We are of the opinion that Africans have neglected one key component of dealing with the living dead — the spirit and souls of people dying on our roads,” said Sanco spokesman Dumisani Mthalane in a statement.

On Friday, SABC radio news reported that Zuma wanted to hold a national cleansing ceremony to restore moral values in the country.

He was reported to have said the ritual would be of great importance in the light of incidents such as the Marikana tragedy, the rape of elderly women, and political assassinations.   He said people who were not cleansed, harboured grudges.  

Mthalane supported Zuma’s call, saying people needed to go back to their roots.

“There are ways — we believe — African, traditional and cultural ways used by our forefathers to deal with tragic events such as road accidents, unfamiliar patterns of behaviour, etc.” 

Mthalane said rituals needed to be performed “by those entrusted with powers to communicate with the spirits to contain bad luck or [the] re-occurrence of tragic events”.

He said a ritual of “Ukuvala Umkhokha”, whereby bad incidents were prevented from reoccurring, should be carried out.

A national cleansing ceremony would thus be a positive step for the country, said Mthalane.

“The move will help bring some normality, and [the] observance of morals and important African values back to the fore in our nation.” 

Sanco condemned the number of festive season road deaths and accidents.

“It is sad when lives become mere statistics.”