J. R. Crawford - Witchcraft and Sorcery in Rhodesia

Volume 18

J. R. CRAWFORD

First published in 1967 by Oxford University Press for the International African Institute

This edition first published in 2018

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1967 International African Institute

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ISBN: 9780815387138 (Set)

ISBN: 9780429488139 (Set) (ebk)

ISBN: 9781138500495 (Volume 18) (hbk)

ISBN: 9781351009249 (Volume 18) (ebk)

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A carved model of a human head with bead decoration, part of a diviners equipment

by

J. R. CRAWFORD

Published for the

INTERNATIONAL AFRICAN INSTITUTE

by the

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

1967

Oxford University Press, Ely House, London W.1

GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON
CAPE TOWN SALISBURY IBADAN NAIROBI LUSAKA ADDIS ABABA
BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI LAHORE DACCA
KUALA LUMPUR HONG KONG

International African Institute 1967

Printed in Great Britain

by Ebenezer Baylis & Son, Ltd.

The Trinity Press, Worcester, and London

I HAVE attempted in this book to give an account of my researches into witchcraft and sorcery beliefs and accusations in Rhodesia. Although I have relied extensively on informants, the principal source of information has been the records of the Attorney-General of Rhodesia. I am greatly in debt for the assistance of the Attorney-General and the staff of his office, both for affording facilities to undertake the research and in drawing attention to what I might, otherwise, have overlooked.

I am greatly indebted also to my various informants for the long-suffering way they put up with my many questions and, in particular, to Thomas and Arthur, the High Court Interpreters, to Mr. Roger Wright, M. S. Ndoro, Mr. B. Vambe and Mr. W. Mkwesha. Arthur is, I am sorry to say, now dead, victim, so his friends say, of his own belief in sorcery.

To Mr. A. Sommerfelt I am particularly indebted both for the advice he has given me and for reading and advising me on the manuscript in its various stages.

Thanks are also owing to Mrs. C. Cramb, who typed much of the previous draft of the manuscript, and to the University of Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland for a grant in aid of the final preparation of the manuscript for publication.

J.R.C.

I N this book I have attempted to study beliefs in wizardry and also the part played in African society in Rhodesia by the allegation of wizardry during the years 1956 to 1962. By wizardry I mean witchcraft and sorcery. The difference between witchcraft and sorcery is important and will be discussed later.

While informants have been used to amplify and explain the material, the primary source of data has been the judicial records in the custody of the Attorney-General of Rhodesia. The reason why, with few exceptions, records prior to 1956 have not been used is because they were not readily available to me. This, however, means that this is a study of a more or less contemporary society.

In some ways the use of judicial records enables a broader picture to be obtained of Rhodesian society as a whole than is possible with conventional anthropological or sociological methods, which must generally, for financial or other reasons, be of limited scope. At the same time the picture obtained must lack some of the detail obtainable from the close study of a particular group. Records relating to a large group such as the Shona peoples are commoner than records relating to the smaller groups; and this is so, not only because of population figures, but also because many of the smaller groups are not in such close contact with the administration as the more closely administered central groups. Of necessity, then, information is more complete about the Eastern Shona and, to a lesser degree, the Ndebele and Kalanga, than about other groups. For this reason this study has been limited to the areas of the country occupied by the Shona, Ndebele and Kalanga. This is not quite the same thing as limiting the study to these tribal groups because there are many multitribal and multiracial communities within these areas and to present a true picture of contemporary society it would be wrong to exclude alien elements. Again, the activities of the prophets of the Pentecostal churches cut across tribal barriers. These prophets are important because of the large role they play in witchcraft allegations. The material from the Ndebele-Kalanga area is less satisfactory than that from the Eastern Shona areas, partly because there is less of it, and partly because of the difficulty of distinguishing the Ndebele from the Kalanga in the case material available to me. I freely admit that this difficulty has caused defects in this book; but the material from this area contains much that is valuable and I have considered it necessary to include it. I have also included the occasional case from other cultural areas where it illustrates a point not clearly illustrated by the other material. All wizardry allegations, the records of which are available to me, whether included within the ambit of this study or coming from areas excluded from it, are listed in the Table in Appendix I.

To explain the nature of the material used some description of the structure and nature of the criminal court procedure of Rhodesa is necessary, since the records used relate mainly to criminal proceedings.

No tribal court has criminal jurisdiction. All criminal prosecutions during the period under examination commenced in the magistrates courts. All presiding officers were, and are, Europeans; and although non-Europeans are now eligible for appointment, none have so far been appointed, nor is it likely that an African will be appointed in the next few years. All larger towns have stipendiary magistrates; but in country districts native commissioners were, until October 1962,