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Andile Tshuma, Chronicle Reporter
A MATOBO family has fled from their ‘haunted’ homestead, saying they were being attacked by invisible beings.

The family is said to be the fifth to flee from the homestead in Dewe Village in Njelele, Matobo District.

According to villagers, the homestead is allegedly haunted by the spirit of a man who was killed for ritual purposes by one of the previous owners.

An old man in the village said it is suspected that some body parts of the dead man were buried in the kraal to increase the number of cattle, and the muti was now causing problems.

Dewe Village head Mr Micah Moyo said:

“It is not clear why the Masaka family left. They didn’t pack their bags and leave, but they abandoned everything, even their chickens and left. We have been told that they are now in South Africa.”

Mr Moyo said previous dwellers at the homestead had faced similar problems and sold it.

Successive owners also fled from the home.

“It is not the first time that such a thing is happening. We have faced a similar issue before,” he said.

The village head said the homestead’s original owner who built it from scratch, Mr Stewart Ncube, abandoned it and went to live in Pumula in Bulawayo after he complained of being tormented by things that he could not see.

“The problem is that some of these injivas bring their goblins and charms that bring wealth, but those things tend to be problematic after a certain period of time,” he said.

A neighbour, who only identified herself as Mrs Tshiyiwe Dube, said mysterious and scary things happen at the homestead at night.

“That beautiful homestead is the mansion of the village but not on a single day have I wished to be the owner. There is nobody there but at night we see strange things. I have seen lights on, and fire lit in the kraal and in the rooms, and it makes us wonder what is going on.  There are fruit trees, but nobody has the guts to go and pick oranges or mangoes there because of things that happen. We are scared they will follow us to our homes,” said Mrs Dube.

A 27 year old man who was once employed as a herdsman and caretaker at the homestead told a Chronicle news crew that he was still shaken by some of the things that took place at the homestead.

“I used to work for the Ncube family. Previously I also briefly worked for the Dubes who also stayed at the homestead. Strange things happened. At one time, stones were being thrown at the house when we were sleeping and we had to move to the other house, the same thing happened. I would sleep on the bed at night, but in the morning wake up sleeping on the floor, with the bed made and neat.

“At one point, I remember that all of us sitting in the shade one afternoon were hit by things that we could not see,” said the man who identified himself only Mehluli.

He said his employer called members of an apostolic sect for a cleansing ceremony, and the situation got better for a while.

“After the Zion people came, we could at least sleep without much disturbance for about a month. The strange things returned, we would hear footsteps at night, and the sound of someone moving furniture, the dogs would bark so fiercely but none of us would go out. Ncube called tsikamutandas to come and cleanse the home, but the things that we could not see attacked them and they fled without helping us. That is when my boss decided to leave,” said Mehluli.

@andile_tshuma