Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Isdore Guvamombe
7 November 2009
Harare — The scotching sun rises imperceptibly sending cicadas complaining, albeit melodiously, from a Mopane tree in front of a shopping centre where residents of this lakeside town walk in and out of the only supermarket.
A spitting distance from the shop entrance at Mahombekombe Township here, is a spectacle of a frail-looking man, crawling in and out of a hovel, recklessly built on a rock outcrop near the dirty bins.
The hovel, made of plastics, grass and tin pieces has become his home even though it is too small for him to walk in and even sit up straight when inside.
He crawls in and out, spending most of his time seated on its front side to beg for food.
The dirty bins are the strategic food source for a man once revered and feared for his wizardry in using traditional medicine to treat stroke, cancers and infertility, among other diseases.
"Boss I am finished. I used to be a very important person getting the best treatment for my patients.
"I used to choose which food to eat and which beverage to drink but today, I eat rotten and smelling dumped food from the bins.
"When there is nothing in the bins, I go hungry and drink water," he says.
After 50 years as a witchdoctor that saw him trudge the length and breath of Southern Africa from Tanzania to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, Siziba Sarati, has now run out of charm.
"I used to stay and eat with the big mine bosses and businessmen. I used to stay in their huge houses where they gave me everything I needed, like a king but today, my food comes from these bins.
"I have run out of my charm. I have run out of most of my concoctions and besides, everyone in Kariba has turned to apostolic faith healing. There is no longer a market for me.
"No one wants to consult me these days but I used to treat cancer, to treat barrenness and several diseases but today, all the people I have helped have abandoned me.
"I have stayed in this hovel for four years and I feed from these bins everyday. My wish is to go back home but I have no money at all," says Sarati, now a ghostly figure.
Sarati who has a certificate of practice from the Zimbabwe National African Traditional Healers Association and other badges from South Africa, Zambia, DRC and Mozambique believes he must have unknowingly trespassed rules of his trade.
He came from Tanzania at the age of 25 after being invited to treat ailments and provide charms by a businessman in Kinshasa. Sarati then hooked up with mine workers from Zambia who wanted him to do the same in their home country in Ndola.
"After that it was mine after mine in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique and Zambia. I now speak seven languages but I cannot eat languages.
"I was then told that there was a lot of business in Kariba. I came here in 2002 but business was good for just a year.
"I had not fallen in love with women for my entire career as a healer and I still have not but I am not sure if my charm disappeared when I touched the breast of one woman.
"I just suspect it is the cause because that night my blood got hot and the rest of what happened is history," regrettably says Sarati.
Now in his late 70s, he can no longer move around to do piece jobs and is waiting for his day to die.
"In the past three years, I wished someone would just give me money and I get back to my home in Shurugwi, chief Nhema where I built a structure in 1996, but I have not gone back.
"Tanzania is too far. All I now need is to get to this home in Shurugwi. Maybe it was taken over by someone but I can still find somewhere to stay."
People in the area said Sarati was rich until when "something went wrong".
Asked about possible eviction by the Kariba Town Council, Sarati says they are afraid of his magical powers.
"They know what I was capable of doing in the past and they cannot touch me. They will die," he claims.
Zimbabwe Traditional Healers Association (Zinatha) Information and Publicity Secretary Mr George Kandiero speculated that there could be two issues that might have led to Sarati's downfall.
"He could have been swindled of all his money by the woman. His downfall could also have been a result of sheer mismanagement of money which led to frustration," he said.
Mr Kandiero said Sarati could have used unorthodox means to enhance his healing powers.
He said it is common among traditional medicine practice that clients are given a set of conditions they should not contravene.
"He could have used goblins to heal his patients. One is given conditions in the process of obtaining such things that go hand-in-hand with charms.
"Some people may be told not to become intimate with women when they get the unorthodox supernatural powers while others will be required to hold rituals after a given period of time.
"Others are to do several other things and it becomes a problem for them if they breach the conditions," said Mr Kandiero.
He added that it is possible that Sarati could have broken the rules and something went wrong.
"Since they stay near water, he could have gone into the water where there are mermaids. It is possible that he ate forbidden food and his world crumbled down," he added.
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