Witch doctors 'cleanse' Vlakplaas

VLAKPLAAS, the notorious farm used covertly by the South African state for murder and torture under apartheid, saw blood spilled again yesterday as witch doctors slaughtered livestock to exorcise its evil spirits. Ten years after the last white secret policemen left, hundreds of black "traditional healers" gathered to cleanse a place viewed by most modern South Africans as the Jews view Auschwitz. Drums were beaten, whistles blown and elaborate dances performed by groups of witch doctors from all over South Africa, next to the now-overgrown helipad once used to deliver victims of the apartheid regime's security apparatus.

Farm buildings that once echoed to the screams of victims echoed to the screams of cattle and goats that had their throats cut by experts in magic and the black arts. "This is to put the souls of the victims to rest and to appease their ancestors," said one woman between gyrations under the baking hot December sun.

Some of the men wore beaded head-dresses and animal skins while the women wrapped themselves in an elaborate collection of bright scarves and shawls. A few white members of the local police contingent deployed at the farm raised their eyebrows in surprise at some of the performances. But the commander said he thought the event a "good idea". "Traditional healers feel the collective wound left by Vlakplaas can be healed," said Wally Serote, chairman of the Indigenous Knowledge Secretariat. "Vlakplaas with its horrific memories can be turned into a place of reconciliation and healing."

The white caretaker of the farm, Louis Smit, who is a born-again Christian, said he hoped the ceremony would rid the place of some of its demons. He casually pointed to a room next to the verandah where a man was beaten to death with a snooker cue in the 1980s and at the barbecue area, which was used to burn body parts.

Vlakplaas, a pretty, 250-acre farm only 20 minutes' drive from Pretoria but hidden by a ring of mountains, has yet to have its full history revealed. It served for more than 10 years as the headquarters of the secret police's often brutal efforts to hold on to power but was kept secret by the white government. During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, which were meant to draw a line under apartheid-era atrocities, visits were made to the Vlakplaas and a number of unmarked graves were discovered. The event at Vlakplaas was intended to pave the way for the farm being turned into a museum and a centre for the training of witch doctors.

Source: Telegraph