Limpopo police arrest suspect for ‘pointing someone out as a wizard’

A person has been nabbed in Limpopo for claiming that someone is a “wizard”, say the province’s police.

The suspect was charged this week with violation of the Witchcraft Suppression Act 3 of 1957.

No specific details about the offence were shared by police, besides that the person is expected to appear in court next week to answer the offence.

According to the Act, the punishment for naming someone as a wizard is a fine of no more than R1 000, prison time of no more than 10 years, “and a whipping not exceeding ten strokes”.

Should the person be found to have a “habit” of being a “witch-finder”, they face jail time of no more than 20 years, “to a whipping not exceeding ten strokes or to both such imprisonment and such whipping”.

Witchcraft allegations

Claims of witchcraft have coloured several court cases in recent years. In July, a 25‑year‑old man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing a child during an arson attack on his aunt’s home. He told the court that he believed she was responsible for the ill health of his uncle and grandmother, alleging witchcraft.

Two months earlier, 47-year-old Samuel Ndesi was sentenced to 28 years for murdering his biological mother, claiming she was a witch.

“Ndesi, who was under the influence of alcohol, confronted his mother, Retuie Ndesi (68) and accused her of bewitching him and other members of the family. He then took out a knife and fatally stabbed her. He was arrested and remanded in custody until his sentencing on Friday, 8 May 2026,” said Police spokesperson Captain Yolisa Mgolodela.