Business is certainly booming for a Zimbabwean traditional healer who is living lavishly despite having a huge family. The sangoma, 68-year-old Sekuru Kafura has married 12 wives and fathered an incredible 100 children, all from selling tikoloshes (goblins) and other money-making charms to his clients.
Unlike most sangomas, Sekuru Kafura does not hide the fact that he sells money-making goblins to anyone who can pay for the services.
Speaking to the state-owned Sunday Mail from his home in Chitungwiza, Sekuru Kafura opened up about his business of selling goblins.
“There is nothing to be ashamed of. I sell goblins to whoever can afford. I have been doing this since 1972, and this is not a secret,” he said.
He did not reveal how much he charges his clients for the goblins.
However, his son Moses Kafura, who doubles as his father’s assistant, had no qualms about revealing how much his father charges for goblins. Moses revealed that one must bring between US$500 and US$2500 if they want to procure a goblin for themselves. The amount paid depends on the “power” of the supernatural creature in question.
“When it comes to goblins, we have three packages. We charge US$2 500 (approximately R39 000), US$1 500 (R23 400 and US$500 (R7800) for the three packages on offer,” he said casually.
Sekuru Kafura is a very traditional person who believes in polygamy. Over the course of his life, he has married 12 wives and fathered a century of children. However, he is now left with nine wives after three of them died in the last few years.
He also maintains strong ties to Malawi, the country of his birth. Two of his wives and six of his children reside in the country.
The traditionalist did not take kindly to questions on how he manages to satisfy his many wives in the bedroom, insisting that it is a private matter that other people should not be concerned about.
“Why should I openly discuss such private issues with the nation? Such issues are private and can only be discussed by me and my wives.”
He also revealed that he does not drink and smoke as he regards such activities as a waste of time. He would rather spend his time on making more children.
“I have no time for drinking and smoking. I would rather spend that precious time on increasing my brood.”
Despite this, the sexagenarian is not your archetypical traditional healer. He does not stay in the village and prefers a lavish and flashy lifestyle for his huge family.
The 68-year-old is always well-groomed and impeccably dressed. He moves around in the latest cars and has a fleet of 35 vehicles. The fleet boasts some of the latest and most powerful vehicles from BMW and Mercedez Benz, just to name a few.
He is also business savvy and runs a thriving farm in Beatrice. At the farm, he raises cattle, pigs and poultry, among other projects. Sekuru Kafura has also invested in real estate, and in Harare alone, he owns more than 20 houses.
The stylish sangoma does not scrimp when it comes to feeding his family. His family consumes a massive 118 loaves of bread every single day. This translates to US$826 (R12 800) per week on bread alone. The family also consumes a full beast every week. They also spend tens of thousands of dollars every month on groceries and toiletries.
Although he has allowed four of his sons to learn the trade of being a traditional healer, he insisted that they will only be able to practise after he is dead.
“They will only become fully-fledged traditional healers after I am gone. My father taught me this craft and I only started healing people long after my father had died. I will do the same with my sons; I will not allow a situation in which I will one day compete for clients with my own children.”
He also added that he does not want any of his daughters to be traditional healers, arguing that the profession is for men only.
“Who among you gentlemen would want to marry a traditional healer? I don’t want my daughters to get divorced for being traditional healers. Traditional healing, in my view, is a man’s domain,” he observed.
