Without warning the boy started trembling and foaming at the mouth before collapsing on the ground.
Even as they helped the child, claims the father, they knew a tokoloshe had warned the child that vutha was coming. Then moments later, a terrible vutha struck . . . for the eight time in a month.
“My home has been hit by vutha too many times,” said Kgomoco Mokejane (37), a father of four children who lives in Vanderbilpark, in the Vaal. “I’ve lost 10 beds in one month and my wife and kids have lost all their clothes,”
The family believe tokoloshes are sending the fires and Kgomoco’s 13-year-old son has allegedly seen the creatures. “He told me he dreamt that they said they would burn him. I asked him to draw them and he drew small creatures with legs, and horns sticking out of their heads,” said Kgomoco.
Kgomoco, who has been living in the area for four years, believes an evil spirit has given birth to tokoloshes who want to destroy his home. He said the first time it happened, on 30 May, his kids were sleeping in their room when his eight-year-old’s bed caught fire.
“The blaze surrounded his body but he didn’t sustain any injuries,” he said. “The kids ran out of their rooms. By the time the firefighters put out the flames, two beds, a wardrobe and all their clothes were destroyed. The insurance said the cause of the fire was unknown.”
Then, on 14 July vutha struck again, destroying the bedroom and part of the kitchen next door. His insurance company moved them into a nearby flat but the vutha started again on 24 July. “I went to a sangoma who told me me tokoloshes were sent to destroy everything I’ve worked for,” said Kgomoco. “My youngest children have been moved to their gogo’s house but my eldest lives with us.
“He needs supervision because when the vutha is about to strike he gets ill and tells us he sees tokoloshes running around the house. “Once the tokoloshes beat him up and he was vomiting blood but we couldn’t see what was hurting him,” he said.
Kgomoco works in Mpumalanga and only comes home on weekends. “The sangoma said the vutha will follow us wherever we go and if I fix my house they will burn it again.” Kgomoco said he has lost all his money trying to buy clothes and school uniforms.
Anyone who can help with clothes or blankets should call 0118776000.
