Cult lives on trees like baboons

18 Feb, 2018 - 00:02 0 Views
Cult lives on trees like baboons

The Sunday News

baboons on a tree

Peter Matika, Senior Reporter
A suspected cult has been discovered in Filabusi, Matabeleland South Province where members have for the past four years lived on top of a mountain surviving on tiny game and bush berries.

In some cases, locals alleged, the cult members sleep on trees and attack anyone who dares come near them.

The sect is led by one Prophet Sithole, whom members allegedly worship like a god and believe possesses supernatural powers that can heal any ailment. So strange and bizarre are stories being told about the cult that it is believed some top politicians visited their base to seek powers.

Sunday News visited the area last week where villagers claimed some cult members lived not out of free will, but were being manipulated by spiritual forces. The cult is said to have set up a shrine on top of a mountain in the Voti area near True Blue Mine. The cult has been the talk of the district, with some villagers expressing fears of satanism.

“Those people have lived there for some time now. We actually thought they were illegal settlers but it turns out they are actually a cult. We heard rumours of strange phenomenon occurring in the area but we were not certain until recently when a family that escaped the cult narrated its ordeal,” said one Mr Cainos Tshuma, who lives in a village near the shrine.

The cult’s shrine and dwellings could not be accessed, as the road and pathways were damaged by the rains.

Prophet Sithole could also not be located or reached for comment, as he was said to have also established another cult in nearby Mberengwa District.
Sunday News, however, managed to locate a family that was reported to have escaped the alleged cult through the assistance of a local church pastor.

“We lived there for three years and seven months. It was a nightmare, all I wanted when I took my two children there was to be healed but instead we found ourselves living like animals. When we arrived there were already other families, the prophet told us that in order for him to heal us he wanted us to stay there for some time and would in turn pass on his prophetic powers to us.

“He told us he was told by God to pass some of his powers to us but instead it is not what happened. We experienced strange dreams, where we would find ourselves sharing the same dream doing strange things to people. It was then when I decided to leave but whenever we tried to leave we would blackout or suffer some sort of temporary amnesia,” claimed Ms Sithandazile Sibanda.

She also claimed Prophet Sithole had initiated them into a realm they did not understand.

“It was just a torrid time. We experienced a lot and it was scary, we lived in trees like baboons, sometimes whenever people would come close to the dwellings we would be told to hide on trees or even be hostile to people we didn’t know,” said Ms Sibanda.

She said they managed to escape after her son managed to leave for a day for Filabusi to look for food.

“My son had to sell his shoes. He met a pastor from Flames of Fire Apostolic Church. The pastor is the one who then came and prayed for us and we managed to escape. Thereafter we made our way to Bulawayo, where we were delivered from demons that had possessed us,” said Ms Sibanda.

Chief Ndube whose jurisdiction covers the area said she was aware of the presence of the prophet and has ordered him to leave her area.

“As chiefs we have been trying to sort out these issues to do with worship. We don’t mind what religion people follow but we want to make people aware of the dangers of following some of these so called self proclaimed prophets. Some of them are womanisers, and are just crooks that are bent on enriching themselves at the expense of the desperate and poor. They claim to posses supernatural powers that can heal anything yet they are just criminals,” she said.

Chief Ndube, on the subject of the cult, said she had actually banished and banned the said prophet from operating within the confines of her jurisdiction.

Chief Ndube also called upon relevant authorities to take measures to shut down the sect.

“Children are failing to access education because of this, some are not working and how are they accessing medical health? Those people must be susceptible to diseases and I am sure there is a lot more happening there,” she said.

 

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