Snippets from South Africa, February 2010
Smoking Vulture Brains to Win the Lottery!
Yes, you read right. This one surely is a contender for one of the most bizarre aspects of black African religion. According to a vendor of muthi (traditional “medicine”, often with supposedly magic powers) named Scelo, operating from downtown Johannesburg’s market for muthi, smoking dried vulture brains enables one to have a vision of winning Lotto numbers! As a result, blacks are coming to him and other vendors to purchase the brains. And South Africa’s vulture populations are dropping as a result! According to a study by two wildlife organisations, at least 160 vultures are sold annually for muthi. [16]
The decline in the number of vultures is of great concern to conservationists[17] and should be of concern to all right-thinking people, because the birds are very necessary as the “cleaners” of the wild, performing an essential function in God’s creation. But this does not give men such as Scelo any sleepless nights. No, what he worries about is losing business because of the scarcity of vultures. “Vultures are scarce,” he laments. “I only have one every three or four months.” Poor man. Our hearts go out to him for his loss. He added, “Everybody asks for the brain. You see things that people can’t see. For Lotto, you dream the numbers.” Well, we are sure people see and dream all kinds of things when they smoke Scelo’s concoction, and it probably has very little to do with the vulture brains and a whole lot to do with the other things which he mixes into the stuff. But meanwhile vultures are being wiped out to supply the demand for their brains.
The vulture brains are rolled into a cigarette or inhaled as vapours. Scelo sells just a tiny bottle, containing no more than a speck of the ground vulture brains, for R50. But the whole vulture could sell for as much as R2000. Those who believe in it say that smoking the brains can also help one win when betting on the horse races, or help one do better when writing an exam, or even attract more clients to one’s business. Such is the widespread belief in the power of muthi among black Africans that men like Scelo sell all kinds of animal products, usually illegally obtained: such things as ostrich feet, snake skins, even donkey fat which is used to supposedly drive away evil spirits. According to an nyanga (traditional “healer”), vulture bones or feathers are mixed with herbs to make medicines. He said, “We make the brain dry and mix it with mud, and you smoke it like a cigarette or a stick. Then the vision comes.”[18] Oh, I’m sure it does.
He said that vulture heads are what he prescribes the most, because they bring visions of the future, those who make use of the concoction being endowed with the vulture’s excellent vision. This belief is not unique to South Africa, but is shared by blacks living along the east coast of Africa and in some west African countries as well.
“Use of vulture parts is an important component of traditional medicine in southern Africa and evidence suggests that traditional use is partly responsible for vulture populations’ rapid decline,” according to a newsletter published by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in South Africa. “The trade in animal parts is secretive and mostly illegal in South Africa…. Vultures are used in traditional medicine for a range of purposes, but are believed to be most effective for providing clairvoyant powers, foresight and increased intelligence…. About 130 000 traders, hunters and traditional healers are operating in South Africa, of which 1251 benefit financially from vulture trade.”[19] If smoking the brains really increased intelligence, they would not be stupidly wiping out the vulture population of the country. If it really gave one foresight, they would have the foresight to see what they are doing.
The health of those who smoke the brains is in fact in great danger, as the newsletter points out: “There is a potential impact on human health when using vultures sold by traders. Almost all vultures have been poisoned using Temik (Aldicarb). (The use of Temik is illegal due to its indiscriminate killing of all animals that feed on the poisoned carcass). Two (2) pea sized granules of Temik can kill an adult man. It does not break down and if someone inhales or ingests part of an animal which has been poisoned with Temik, they face severe health risks which include foetal deformation in pregnant women, various chronic ailments and possibly death.”
Police Station Robbed of Its Firearms!
It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so serious and dangerous. A chronically under-staffed police station in KwaZulu-Natal province was robbed of seven firearms when an armed gang held up the only officer on duty. This just shows how criminals hold the SA Police in utter contempt and have no fear of them.
According to a high-ranking officer in the precinct, who did not want to be named, the station was crippled by staff shortages, and although the provincial office had been informed of the situation many times, nothing had been done. “There used to be three people per shift, but that number has dramatically decreased as we have been struggling with vacancies since 2005. On the day of the incident, there were supposed to have been two officers on duty. However, the other was on stand-by because he was not feeling well.” Frankly, one doubts whether two officers instead of one would have made much difference to the armed criminals.
The once-mighty and excellent SA Police (in the days before the ANC came to power) has been reduced to a shadow of its former self, riddled with corruption, under-staffed, under-trained, and lacking much essential equipment. There are many good and hard-working members of the police force, who do the very best they can within their limited means; but they are fighting an uphill battle. If criminals have such little fear or respect for the police that they can traipse into a police station, hold up a police officer and steal whatever they like, then this gives a very good indication of the fact that the general public are nothing more than sitting ducks.
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