The normal abnormal life of a wosana Gogo Kellina Ndlovu

Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporter 

THE life of a wosana is normal, they are human like all of us. Nothing is outstanding about them, but when they are doing what they are called to do, they go to a spiritual realm where no ordinary person goes, where they use song and dance to talk to the rain gods and plead for the heavens to open up. 

They do this at the Njelele Shrine, a cave in Matobo annually visited by pilgrims for ritual purposes prior to the beginning of the rain season. These pilgrims include the revered wosanas. 

Lucia Moyo (65) known as Gogo MaNyathi has been a wosana since she was in her early teens. She is married and has four children and several grandchildren.

Gogo MaNyathi said on normal mornings, she wakes up and performs household chores. She sweeps the yard and cooks breakfast for the family with the help of one of her grandchildren.

“Being a wosana is not something that I do 24 hours a day. I have got a life outside this calling. I cook, clean, work the land and also tend to my livestock and garden. I’m a wife to my husband of over 40 years,” said Gogo MaNyathi. 

She was part of a contingent of amawosana from Mahole in Tsholotsho district, Matabeleland North that accompanied Chief Tategulu to the Njelele Shrine in Matabeleland South.

“My task as a wosana is to go to the rock or cave at Njelele to pray and ask for amazolo (rain). When we are there, we brew traditional beer, and then we come with it for people to gather here to eat, drink and be part of the ceremony. We go into the cave and start praying for the rain. There’s a lot of singing, dancing and drumming all through the night,” said Gogo MaNyathi. 

When in the ‘‘zone”, Gogo MaNyathi says she speaks perfect TjiKalanga although she cannot knit a sentence when she is back to herself. 

“I don’t know what happens to me; people who have seen me in a trance say I will be speaking in TjiKalanga. I grew up in an area where there are no people who speak the language, I’m fluent in isiNdebele. But that’s what we do,” she said.

Gogo MaNyathi said the calling to be a wosana forced her out of school. A series of exorcisms at church failed to get rid of the wosana in her. 

“I tried going to school, but this calling was too strong and I failed to attend school. I tried going to church to be exorcised and even though it worked for a while, it eventually took over. My parents were still taken aback as I was very young when the calling was upon me. So, they wanted me to finish school first,” said Gogo MaNyathi.

The wosana in her became dormant when she got married. That is until one day she woke up paralysed. 

“I was once paralysed and I couldn’t walk because of the spirit that was in me. I spent a week not speaking. Mind you, I was still married at that time and I was in that state. It was someone, perhaps one of my relatives, who suggested that I be taken to the Njelele shrine as the church had failed to heal me,” said Gogo MaNyathi.

For Gogo Kellina Ndlovu the wosana spirit in her turned her into a fountain of rage. 

“When I was young before I was initiated, I had a lot of rage and I was stubborn. I would beat up people who tried to get under my skin. I didn’t care if you were male or female, I would beat you up. My parents tried all they could but it was not easy,” said Gogo Ndlovu.

An initiation ceremony at the Njelele Shrine when she was in her teens changed her behaviour and calmed her down.

“After some rituals at the shrine, the next morning I was back to normal. Yearly, my grandmother and mother would take me there. Unfortunately, they are dead, but I still go there on a yearly basis. 

“My parents knew that some rituals must be done, but they said I was too young. I would run away from home and climb trees when I went into a trance,” said Gogo Ndlovu. 

When she got married, she stopped going to the Njelele Shrine and this resulted in her losing control again and it led to the breakdown of her marriage. 

“I had problems especially after my marriage broke down. But now I go without fail and my life has changed and I no longer use violence to solve disputes,” said Gogo Ndlovu. 

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