WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2003-12-17 Posted By: Jan
From the News Archives of: WWW.AfricanCrisis.Org
Date & Time Posted: 12/17/2003 8:38:34 AM
Dutch Academics: Greed behind witch killings
[Note. This is true. In fact, in history books one will find that at the time of Shaka, King of the Zulus, that a lot of “witch related” things were linked to greed, personal vendetta’s, etc, etc. The whole business of Witchcraft has always been completely abused in Africa… and yet blacks believe deeply in the stuff.
I am open minded to the paranormal, but trust me, most of “African Witchcraft” is just pure junk. Jan]
Polokwane – The biblical sins of jealousy and greed are at the root of South Africa’s bloody witch killings, a comprehensive new international research report claims.
The findings effectively switch the burden of “evil” from the accused, who are invariably old or ugly women, to their youthful accusers.
The report, compiled by local and Dutch academics, also suggests that government could end witchhunts by tackling the grinding poverty that encourages superstition and desperation.
The academics conclude that people only accuse each other of witchcraft when they suffer envy, rivalry and hatred.
“If people have less cause to feel jealous of prosperous neighbours and guilty about poor relatives, there’ll be less reason to resort to witchcraft accusations,” explained project leader Professor Thias Kgatla of the University of the North.
Kgatla said if government met the basic needs of people, like food and shelter, and ensured a more equal distribution of wealth, there should be more contentment and less reason to be jealous of one’s neighbours.
Witchcraft part of curriculum
Kgatla and a team from the Holland Institute of Social Studies and Utrecht University suggest that rural communities be made aware of the causes and prevention of illnesses and natural disasters such as lightning strikes so that they don’t blame such incidents on witchcraft.
Kgatla said witchcraft could be raised as part of the school curriculum.
This way, witchcraft in Africa can be relegated to the “scrap-heap” of history as it was in Europe.
Parliament and provincial legislatures will be given copies of the report, while lawmakers will also be lobbied not to abolish the Witchcraft Suppression Act of 1957, which makes it a crime to label anyone a witch.
The report is not only limited to South Africa, however.
How to handle cases?
It found that in Cameroon, witchcraft is taken seriously as a crime with people being convicted of witchcraft, but judges are at a loss at how to handle the cases.
The Khoisan don’t believe in witchcraft because they have no “notion of personal evil”.
In the late 1990s, Limpopo was dubbed the “Witchcraft Zone” following a spate of witchcraft-related violence.
The Gender Commission conducted a series of awareness workshops after it appeared that two-thirds of people accused of witchcraft were women aged between 50 and 60 years.
Limpopo’s Gender Commission co-ordinator Sipho Dikgale said the campaigns had helped, as witchcraft-related cases had dropped.
“I guess we have achieved our goals. I can’t remember the last time I heard about such cases in the province,” Dikgale said.
Source: NEWS24.COM
URL: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/New…br>