By Tim Binnall
A man in the small African nation of Eswatini will be spending the next year behind bars after he was busted for violating the country's ban on witchcraft with a weird curse on his family. According to a local media report, the curious case began around two years ago when Mfanasibili Sibandze got into a dispute with one of his relatives. While the details of the conflict are unknown, the argument was significant enough that he enlisted a foreign mystic to cast a sinister spell on five family members who had raised his ire. The curse was specifically aimed at thwarting "the success of his relatives," and it seemingly worked until the witchcraft was recently revealed.
Sibandze's scheme unraveled when a friend, who was aware of the magical plot, felt guilty after seeing the victims suffer for the past two years and decided to come forward with the troubling tale. Their account was confirmed when authorities unearthed five small jars containing the names of the targeted family members. This led to police arresting Sibandze for violating the country's Witchcraft Act, which prohibits such 'magical' machinations. Although he initially insisted he was innocent, the man eventually admitted his guilt and begged for mercy from the judge overseeing his case. In a testament to how serious the 'dark arts' are perceived in Eswatini, the court's attention then turned to how to eradicate the curse and free the family members from the dark cloud hanging over them.
Hopes that the mystic, identified as Makama, could perform the ceremony were dashed when his girlfriend, a local "traditional healer," told authorities that travel restrictions prevented him from returning to the country very often. While it is possible to reverse the curse, she said, it would "require considerable effort and proper communication with the ancestors who permitted the ritual to occur." The judge overseeing the case ultimately tasked local authorities and the impacted parties to resolve the situation with an aim towards "cleansing the affected family members." As for Sibandze, he was sentenced to one year in jail for violating the Witchcraft Act and is unlikely to be invited to any future family gatherings when he gets out of jail.