Dealer’s goblins cause havoc in Mutare

By Ngoni Dapira

MUTARE – Residents in the Nyamauru area of Dangamvura high-density suburb were left weak-kneed on Sunday after mythical creatures and artifacts believed to be “wealth- enhancing tools” stormed the funeral of a once prosperous gold dealer, Taurai Paul Tsapauta.

The drama started unfolding on Sunday afternoon at the late Tsapauta’s House Number 7076, Nyamauru. He died last Saturday morning at Old Mutare Mission Hospital where he was admitted last year on December 2. He was unwell since March last year.

According to friends who spoke on condition of anonymity, Tsapauta fell sick in March with just a swollen hand which he assumed to have been caused by boils, but by the time of his admittance into hospital he had reportedly gone senile.

According to neighbours what they saw was creepy and unbelievable. Neighbours said tenants at Tsapauta’s house refused to sleep in the house the evening after the incident.

Attempts to get in touch with any of the tenants by the time of going to press were fruitless.

Witnesses said four self-styled prophets from the Johanne Masowe YeZviratidzo were no match for the ‘‘goblins’’ until late in the evening when another self-styled prophet, Madzibaba Korito, came to the rescue.

“What we saw is unbelievable. I used to think the H-Metro and The Manica Post lie about some of the stories they publish, but I witnessed the macabre real drama, a confirmation that people have tokoloshis in their houses.

“What shocked me was the strange-looking creature that was dug out from the front yard pavement which was hairy and looked like a little baby’s head. It could move, but we could not see its legs,” said one of the elderly women present.

One of the witnesses, a lady who preferred to be called Anesu, said she saw everything from the afternoon when the prophets came to exorcise the place.

She said Tsapauta’s late wife invited the prophets to help her ‘‘deal’’ with her late husband’s ‘‘tools of the trade’’ following his death.

“Four prophets, a woman and three men, were hired for the mission. Tsapauta’s wife removed a clay pot, zvuma (traditional beads), retso (red white and black cloths), bakatwa (traditional dagger), negano (a small axe).

“These were removed with no problems. However, when one of the male prophets tried to remove a cow horn-like object with hairy human skin on it and fresh blood pouring out, that is when the drama began.

“The horn was kept inside the mattress in Tsapauta’s bedroom. The prophet was mysteriously hit and fell to the ground,” said Anesu.

She said the other prophets had to join in prayer to help their fellow prophet and overcome the power of the horn-like object.

In the evening when Tsapauta’s body was taken there to lie in state, Madzibaba Korito came in the picture and allegedly uncovered the other mysterious creatures — a snake, a hairy baby head-like object and a big snail about the size of an avocado pear.

“The creatures were alive and tried to escape, but were caught by the prophet who showed no fear at all. How could something that was dug about 30-60 centimeters under the pavement come out alive? That is mysterious to us,” said one of the women, Mrs Katsande.

A hired taxi driver who only identified himself as Garwe saw all the night’s events.

Garwe said he had been hired to escort the family of the late Tsapauta’s to their family home in Tsvingwe, Penhalonga, that night.

“I had been asked by the late Tsapauta’s friend, Charles, to transport the late Tsapauta’s wife and father to Tsvingwe, but when I got to Dangamvura, what I witnessed was shocking.

“I almost refused to drive them to Tsvingwe, but Madzibaba Korito assured me that nothing would befall me as we were driving there together,” said Garwe.

At the burial on Monday, Madzibaba Korito confirmed that he had exorcised the goblins at Tsapauta’s house, but before he could tell The Weekender more about what had really transpired, some members of the family were quick to bar him from giving a detailed account of what happened on Sunday.

The family spokesperson and the late Tsapauta’s young brother, Walter, professed ignorance over the Sunday’s drama.

“What people are saying are just misconceptions. My brother was a gold dealer and before he died he had told us to look for gold he had stashed in his front yard pavement, so that is what we were doing and the prophets were helping us,” he said.

On the contrary, Tsapauta’s father contradicted Walter’s gold-searching claims and said they were looking for money stashed on the front pavement, not gold.

The burial, however, went well with no unusual shenanigans and he was laid to rest at the Tsvingwe Cemetery around 2.30pm.

One of the late Tsapauta’s friends who also requested anonymity said during his illness Tsapauta went to consult a traditional healer in Chipinge.

“I am shocked about all the mysterious things uncovered at my friend’s house. Whether they are his or not, no one really knows now?” said the friend.

The friend said the late Tsapauta had two other wives before his current wife. The first one left him but later died and the second, called Gladys, mysteriously died in 2006, a sudden death.

Neighbours said the irony after his second wife’s mysterious death in 2006 was that his riches started diminishing.

“From five cars in 2006 Tsapauta’s riches went down to one by 2013. His last Pajero vehicle was sold to his friend Charles. By the time of his death, he did not own any vehicle,” said of the neighbours.

Neighbours said the current wife also had problems of waking up in the morning and would always hallucinate calling out Gladys’ name, a reason which forced her to join the Johanne Masowe YeZviratidzo sect for spiritual help.

According to Mbuya Martha Reig from the Zimbabwe National Practitioners’ Association, the visible artifacts were tokoloshis, while the invincible ones were goblins.

“From your description the objects seen are tokoloshis (zvikwambo) and not goblins (zvidhoma). Goblins are invincible like what would kick off the woman from her bed and make her see her husband’s late wife.

“There are people who acquire tokoloshis for wealth accumulation so these things are truly happening.

“The fresh blood on the horn-like creature can be the blood of victims that were killed or the blood of the possessor of those things,” said Mbuya Reig. She, however, said goblins or tokoloshis can be removed and exorcised by powerful prophets and traditional healers. Manica Post