Description: So begins this true story of witchcraft and friendship set against the turbulent backdrop of contemporary Soweto. Adam Ashforth, an Australian who has spent many years in the black township, finds his longtime friend Madumo in dire circumstances: his family has accused him of using witchcraft to kill his mother and has thrown him out on the street. Convinced that his life is cursed. Madumo seeks help among Soweto's bewildering array of healers and prophets. An inyanga, or traditional healer, confirms that he has indeed been bewitched. With Ashforth by his side, skeptical yet supportive, Madumo embarks upon a physically grueling treatment regimen that he follows religiously -- almost to the point of death -- despite his suspicion that it may be better to "Westernize my mind and not think about witchcraft".

Ashforth's beautifully written, at time poignant account of Madumo's struggle shows that witchcraft is not simply superstition, but a complex response to spiritual insecurity in a troubling time of political and economic upheaval. In post-apartheid Soweto, he discovers, attacks of witchcraft have reached epidemic proportions. Through Madumo's story, Ashforth opens up a world that few have seen, a deeply unsettling place where the question "Do you believe in witchcraft?" is not a simple one at all. The insights that emerge as Ashforth accompanies his friend on an odyssey through Soweto's supernatural perils have profound implications even for those of us who live in worlds without witches.

Please Wait