South Africa: Affairs, Missing Children and Muti Killings

I received the under mentioned story from a friend and it is a fascinating real life story to share. Who would know the disappearance of two children and a witch-doctor would make a connection. I guess there are many stories we do not know about.

Khotso Sethunsa

The Story -

 (The You letter. I have no idea who wrote it.) You is the name of a South African Magazine.

Part 1.
This is in the 'Ask Dr. Louise' section in You magazine, 11 July 2014.

'My Mum cheated, now I hate her.'

Q. My mother had an affair and it has affected us badly. It seems my parents have decided to stay together, but they do not talk to us about it. My mother apologized to us but now she does not seem sorry anymore. She complains about our disrespectful attitudes, but I feel it is the only way we as her children know how to handle this. She complains to my grandmother about our manners, she is self-righteous and I have started to hate her. I cannot talk to our relatives about the affair because they do not know about it. I am too ashamed to tell my friends (they know the man she was involved with). I cry a lot and I am angry with my mom like never before. She goes on about our faults (as if she is perfect) and I feel she has not been punished enough. When I try to talk to my father about it, he plays dumb. I do not know how to handle this or who to speak to. I no longer talk to my parents and I have never felt so alone.  - Anonymous, email.

Dr. Louise Replies.

A. People make mistakes - and imagine if your parents never forgave you for yours! The truth is this affair is nobody's business except your mother's and father's - she did not betray you or your siblings, she betrayed him. In addition, couples do not have affairs if their relationship is beautiful so the cheating may have been a wake-up call for both your parents. Now they know they have to work at their relationship and treasure each other. You are angry with your mother because she is not as perfect as you wanted her to be, but the bottom line is she still loves you, your siblings and your father. (otherwise, she would have chosen the other man). In addition, remember as a parent it is her job to talk to you and your siblings about bad manners or whatever else needs addressing. You as the eldest will have to set an example. It is difficult enough for your parents to rebuild their relationship without you wanting to punish your mother all the time. Move on with your life and leave the gown-ups to their business. It would be most inappropriate for your mother to discuss her and your father's relationship with you.

Part 2.
My letter to Dr. Louise was not to be published.

Dear Dr. Louise,

           'My Mom cheated, now I hate her.'

Anonymous wrote. Dr. Louise replied.

This matter is more complicated than what you wrote. Your answer to Anonymous is protecting Mom, and not giving Anonymous a better life. To say to her, 'Move on...' is playing down the seriousness of this extra-marital affair. You are taking Mom's side. We have heard and read many times, "What is best for a child..." Child Welfare and SAPS Child Protection Unit will concur, what is best for a child.

At the same time, you should have warned Anonymous, "If you carry on exposing Mom, she will kill you." In addition, Anonymous could say, "In that case. I must kill Mom before she kills me. .." In both cases, the police will get involved. Oh yes, the police did try to kill me and after that accident, the police "lost" the collision docket. When you mentioned, 'You as the eldest..." it seems you personally know who Anonymous is? (I do not. However, I can recognize the pain she has.) What Anonymous did not mention was. How was that pregnancy terminated? (I am not going into details how. My mother's first child was NOT my father's biological child. The wedding night was consummated. Then my mother did something...) It is a case to win back her place in the family without being thrown out! “Moving on... “means "Get OUT!" Go to Child Welfare or open a criminal case at SAPS Child Protection, before Mom does!

It goes like this.

Daughter aged 16-years is told by father. "Go sit in the kitchen as Tom (who had the affair with Mom) is coming for lunch. Servant X will feed you. In addition, do not come and sit with us. .. You must not be seen." After the meal father shows Tom the house. All walk down passage and Tom is shown Anonymous' bedroom. The door is opened so Tom can look inside. .What will Anonymous think? Her paranoia is real! Either Tom or his eldest son is invited to rape Anonymous in her own bedroom...The affair that Mom had does not stop after the first night out!

Of course, this matter is Anonymous' problem, more than her father’s is. SHE IS THE VICTIM! Father might get a handout and reward?

Part 3.

I was not there when the incident happened. I was too small to be on holiday and I was staying with my grandparents. However, I was shown the place as I was with my family two years later at the same place on the Natal South Coast.

This happened during 1956 at Ramsgate on the Natal South Coast. My parents farmed in the middle of the Natal Midlands. Each year they went on vacation to see the sea. To drive with a family of small children to a holiday cottage on the South Coast was a long and tiring trip. The double highways were not in existence then. Just a long, twisty turn tar road going parallel with the railway line. People build houses mainly for holiday makers between the (old) main road and the sea, Indian Ocean. These were simple houses to cater for the families during the Baby Boomer years, after The War (World War II). My family then consisted of my two parents and my three elder brothers. An African nanny accompanied them. The car used was a green Ford V8. (I only found out during the mid-1990s that the elder brother and a younger brother were not my father's off-spring. He had "adopted" them. My mother had cheated on my father. The reason why, I am still trying to understand. The middle brother, who was the victim, was my father's biological son.) The beach cottage had four rooms and a kitchen and bathroom. Cooking was done by those renting it. A side entrance had a neat lawn of about 50 square meters and a path that ran straight down to the sea, which was 50 meters from the high water mark. A lovely place to be in. The cottage was an on a steep slope. The central part was level with the ground and a terrace facing the sea was high above the ground level due to the sloping ground. The veranda had a room underneath with a locked door. My family did not go there. .. Until much later.

Swimming, fishing and walking alone the beach was enjoyable. My family arrived late Friday afternoon and decided to leave the following Sunday, 9 days later. Came Sunday and time to leave. My father went to the property owner and paid for the stay. The property owner, a very nice person then showed my family what was under the cottage. He went down to the bottom level of the cottage that was under the veranda, and opened the door and led my family in. A large cave was under the cottage. This cave extended far into the slope and had large boulders ready to roll out... When the cottage was built, this cave did not exist. Only after the cottage was built an underground stream eroded the sand away causing a large cavity. Only by chance, the cottage remained intact.

It was very scary to go into this hole and look into the bowels of the earth. The large boulders gave the scene poignancy.

More was to come.

My parents then packed the large V8 to go home. This was about 10 o'clock in the morning. My father had to go to see the property owner on another matter, so he told the family to get in while he was away, only five minutes. He arrived back and everybody was inside the car waiting. He got in and asked, "Is everybody inside?" They all said, "Yes. Let us go... “including my mother. My father started the V8 and started to drive away, to go back home. He had driven 100 meters and he looked in the rearview mirror and did not see my middle brother. He looked around and said. "Where is he?" He was not in the V8. The African servant was silent and looked straight ahead. It was her duty to ensure my middle brother was well-looked after. My father reversed the car and as he got back to the cottage, my brother suddenly appeared from the direction of the sea. He had no idea that my family were leaving him behind. The servant had left him near the sea then ran away leaving him! My father was ultimately responsible for my brother's safe well-being. My mother also had her ultimate duty to him, and the servant partially responsible. Why did my mother say, "leave him to the servant"? She had her duty and why did she say, "Yes. Let’s go...” This brings out, 'who betrayed who?' and 'who is the victim?' as in the You letter to Dr. Louise

Post-script.
In 1967, two children of the (missionary) Gray family, Vinny and Susie, went with their father fishing at Mbotyi, on the Pondoland Coast. The father left the children in the care of African servants. Both children disappeared never to be found. It seems an African witch doctor, the millionaire witch doctor, Khotso Sethunsa (died 25 July 1972) used them as muti! Read the story about Mbotyi below!

It seems that my brother had been left so this same witch doctor could make muti from his remains. It nearly happened!

MBOTYI – EASTERN CAPE – SOUTH AFRICA (Described as a dauntingly amazing place with stunning landscapes and picturesque beauty.)

Khotso There are few stories about the old Transkei which do not have some reference to Khotso. Mbotyi is no exception. Margaret Barlow, who practiced as a medical doctor in Lusikisiki for many years had this to say about Khotso in her book The Last of the Lotus Lands ” “…Khotso Sethunsa was one of the greatest of all herbalists. He was an amiable magnificently dressed little man said to be enormously wealthy. Khotso was reputed to be the grandchild of President Kruger’s coachman and was supposed to know where the Kruger millions were buried. As a result, he always celebrated Kruger Day with great enthusiasm and would invite celebrities from all over South Africa to attend. Khotso’s followers, at one time there were more than 250, were obliged to attend a 3-year training course. In the first year they underwent an oral examination and were asked, for example, to find a lost cow. Those who did pass were obviously the cream of society. Personally I’d opt to write my pathology exam again than face Khotso’s test.” Khotso’s rise can be traced to his days as a teenager working as a herd boy for a Kokstad farmer, Eric Scott. The legend of Khotso is that after having been beaten by his employer, he publicly threatened revenge. This was unheard of in those days and particularly coming from a youngster. Soon thereafter a tornado swept through Scott’s farm destroying nearly everything. Khotso claimed responsibility and the rest is history. He made a fortune selling his powerful muti and built for himself and his acolytes majestic palaces outside Kokstad, Mt Frere and Lusikisiki. The latter can still be seen on the right hand side of the road approaching Lusikisiki with its walls adorned with statues of lions and eagles in flight. Amongst the bidders at The Barber Estate Auction was Khotso. Everybody thought that with his wealth and power it was a done deal that Khotso would be the new owner of the hotel site. At the last minute Khotso withdrew his bid and the site was knocked down to Rick Grant and his partners for a mere £50. Khotso felt hard done by and uttered a curse before leaving the auction in disgust. Nobody knows why Khotso withdrew his bid – one popular theory is that just before the bidding started he was reminded that the apartheid laws of the time might disqualify him from acquiring ownership. The Khotso legend was to return to Mbotyi years later when it was said that he was linked to the disappearance of the Gray children. The Gray Children In 1967 an American Missionary Organisation, Pilgrims’ Holiness, had a mission in Mt Frere. The mission was run by the Gray family who went on holiday to Mbotyi that year. Some time during the holiday, the father and eldest son were left to mind the children on the beach. The children were a boy and girl Vinny aged 6 and Susie Aged 4. Father and son decided to go fishing and left the two young children in the care of the family servants. When they returned from fishing, the father and son found the servants hysterical. The children had disappeared. Eleanor Grant, daughter of Rick, remembers the incident well. “…Word soon went out that these missionary kids had disappeared. A massive search party gathered and everybody searched the hills, sand dunes and shoreline. The army was called in and the lagoon was even dredged. The children had vanished into thin air. If the kids had drowned their bodies would have washed up but this did not happen. To this day nobody knows what became of them. For months afterwards the Gray family would wander the hills calling out for their lost children. It was an unbelievably sad thing to witness. The theory at the time was that it was Khotso’s curse and that the children had been taken for muti. Of course this was never proved. For years afterwards we never let our own kids out of our sight…” On a dark night, don’t be surprised if you bump into the Gray children on Mbotyi beach. Nick Robertson gave this chilling account of his sighting of the Gray children: “The story you ask about occurred about 10 years ago. We were having a New Years party at Glyn Bodley’s cottage. This fact may cause you to raise your eyebrows but let me assure you that all that I tell you is true. It was after midnight when Ian Holmes and myself decided to take a walk across the beach to the hotel. When we were well onto the beach we saw two people and walked up to them. The first thing we noticed was their strange garments. The man wore a monk’s cowl. Around his waist he had a type of coarse rope. The whole garment was of a dark colour. I suppose a little like the colour of a true monk’s cowl. It was hooded. The woman I walked right up to was dressed in a very similar white garment. Hers did not have the hood. We didn’t recognise them and Ian asked them which “camp” they were from. One of the strangest things about the whole happening was they didn’t say one word. The man appeared to grow right before our eyes to the height of at least seven foot or more. He them attempted to wave us away. His garment was splayed (I think that is the correct word) at the end of his arms. I watched him wave Ian away and his arm going through Ian’s head. Ian said that he didn’t feel any air moving. They then walked off and appeared to fade out into the sea.” Info updated 22 September 2003 with many thanks to Jean Pendleton (nee Gray) of Michigan USA the sister of the missing children.

The above is from the Mbotyi website

Read more historical stories about strange people and events on the Mbotyi Website.

http://mbotyi.co.za/about/histor/?doing_wp_cron=1411807244.8368780612945556640625