Mystery still surrounds the recent discovery of a dead goat, dressed in women’s clothes, at the gate of a yard in Mandala.

Villagers in the remote rural village outside Thohoyandou were shocked to find a goat dressed in a denim skirt, a top and a pantie at the gate of a villager’s abode. The incident has left villagers alleging that it was a vengeful act of witchcraft and fingered a Zimbabwean man whose lover and a child were taken and allegedly given to another man in the village. The Zimbabwean is alleged to have said he would take revenge and promised that those who were involved in the deal would never have peace.

According to sources in the village, the woman at whose yard the dead goat was found, had arranged that the lover be married to her cousin, who then took her away with the Zimbabwean child to the city. This did not go down well with the Zimbabwean, who demanded that the child be returned and threatened that, if his demands were not met, bad things would happen to the woman.

Villagers also alleged that the man threatened to burn the hut of the girl’s mother for having allowed the woman to leave with his child. What convinced the community even more that he is the culprit is the fact that even the hut he allegedly threatened to burn, was burnt to the ground. “These people are capable of doing bad and mysterious things. What can prevent him from doing this when his child was taken away by another man?” said a community member. The source said the village had witnessed many strange things that could be associated with witchcraft and the latest incident clearly showed that a strong force was at work in the village.

The woman at whose yard the goat was found said she knew nothing of the goat. “I cannot link the goat to my altercation with the Zimbabwean. This is a different matter altogether and people should stop blowing the issue out of proportion,” she said. She alleges that her problems with the man are just a domestic issue which was being handled by the traditional courts in the area. “People should stop talking about this case as it might jeopardize my chances at the tribal courts because we have nearly reached an agreement with the man,” she said. She said she had arranged with the woman to come back from town over the weekend and the child will be handed back to the father.

“I think the return of the child will end my woes and I will be able to lead a normal life again. I have had enough and feel that this issue has to end, once and for all,” she said. During the interview, the woman conceded that she had been threatened by the man but could not link the goat incident with the man.

Another resident in the village said she was telling lies. “She will never tell the truth. The whole village knows about the incident and she must be afraid of the man,” he said. The man said it was a known fact that the goat had been found at her yard and taken to a nearby stream.

The president of the Vhembe Traditional Health Practitioners, Vho-Maine Vho Mbilivhili Neluvhola, was shocked to learn about the incident. “This is pure witchcraft. Where on earth have you seen a goat dressed in panties and wearing clothes? This must be the work of a wizard out to harm somebody,” he said. Neluvhola said it could also be the work of someone trying to scare off another person. “This needs ancestral intervention as the person who put the goat has bad intentions. The victim should consult with her ancestors before it is too late,” he said.