'Herbalists' con woman out of tens of thousands of dollars
Published: 2013 October 29 16:58:44 (4472 Views)
Three so-called herbalists who allegedly conned a Cape Town woman out of more than R121 000 and promised to turn her into a millionaire have been arrested after police raided their consultation rooms.
Now the woman is penniless and deeply in debt, having sold all her possessions.
The three, originally from Uganda, are to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court in December on charges of theft after police raided their consultation rooms.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut said the three – aged 30, 31 and 41, respectively – had been arrested and released on bail.
A fourth person, one Doctor Allie, was yet to be arrested.
He warned of more arrests of so-called healers who call themselves "doctor" and "professor", saying they were suspected of defrauding their patients.
"(We) are aware of herbalists who defraud their patients.
"People are warned to refrain from making use of these services," Traut said.
While Cape Town was inundated by these "herbalists" – who often advertise their services in pamphlets handed out on streets claiming to fix anything from erectile dysfunction and fertility problems to financial problems and winning back lost lovers – the people who were conned out of their money were often "reluctant to register cases", Traut said.
The arrests follow a complaint by a Grassy Park woman who allegedly lost R121 400, which she paid as consultation and "sacrificial" fees to the three herbalists based in Grassy Park and Cape Town.
The mother of three, who has declined to be named, is now facing eviction from her rented home after she was left penniless.
Not only was she in debt, she said, but she had also lost friends and relatives from whom she had borrowed money.
What she initially thought would be a once-off payment of R50 000 to a Grassy Park herbalist to get a return of R3.4 million – which she was told was a "gift from my ancestors" – had gradually increased to R121 400 after the "herbalists" kept on asking for more money until she had nothing left.
"They've left me with absolutely nothing," the weeping woman said.
"I have lost everything… friends, family members and my job. My home is standing empty as I had to sell all my furniture to repay the money I owed them.
"I still can't believe how I was duped and fell for the theories. I was just beside myself."
Her problems started in February when she mistakenly knocked on a herbalist's door while looking for the Legal Aid offices in Grassy Park for advice about a divorce.
A Dr Sheila said she could solve all the woman's legal problems as she specialised in legal, financial and health matters.
After the initial consultation, she was told that if she wanted to get rich, she had to pay R50 000 – which she raised by borrowing from friends.
"I was then put in this dark room with burning incense that was only lit with a candlelight.
"What looked like stacks of money in a suitcase and plastic crates was brought into the room. A man with a deep voice, which I was told was my ancestor, said the money is all mine.
"I couldn't believe my luck. I thought all my problems would go away if I laid my hands on it."
But there were more conditions before she could get the money. She had to go home and wash with herbs and burn more incense to "cleanse" herself of bad spirits.
She also had to pay R21 000 for a "unique" golden mat, which she had to pray over, and R2 500 for a bag that would supposedly help protect her money.
She panicked when she did not get her millions, but was told to be patient as the "herbalist" was on the mountain praying for her.
Then the "herbalist" disappeared.
Desperate, the woman approached another "herbalist", one Dr Allie in the city centre, who "specialised" in "unresolved traditional healing".
She had to be "cleansed" of bad spirits again – a ritual that resulted in her selling a car and paying all her leave pay of nine years. She paid the second "herbalist" R39 500.
But a third herbalist, a Dr Rashid from Grassy Park, convinced her she had made a mistake by consulting the two previous doctors. He was to resolve all her problems, but she had to pay R8 400 in sacrificial animals and a ritual to appease her ancestors to release the "gift" the first doctor had promised her.
"By the time I saw Dr Rashid I was penniless… I had no money to buy food. I had sold everything in the house just to get the millions that were promised to me.
"I felt like the herbalists were sucking blood out of me… the more they sucked, the more I believed in them even though I wasn't going anywhere.
"People ask me what was I thinking to believe their lies, but I also don't know why I kept going back… I feel so foolish to have believed anything they told me," the woman said.
Phethisile Maseko, national coordinator of the Traditional Healers Organisation, said many people were duped by so-called healers, particularly in big cities.
She distanced her organisation from them, saying it recognised only southern African healers and not east African healers.
"As the Traditional Healers Organisation we don't recognise these healers as their conduct is magical and very different from traditional medicine practised in southern Africa," she said.
"Our principle is that a healer shouldn't be nomadic… a practitioner should be someone who establishes a relationship with a patient, and has a fixed address.
"Traditional practitioners shouldn't charge exorbitant amounts of money."
Maseko said any healer who charged more than R100 for a consultation and asked for large amounts of money for rituals should be treated with suspicion.
Lize Nel, spokeswoman for the Health Professions Council of SA, said the "healers" put people's lives at risk by their methods.
"The council cannot hold them accountable in case of negligence or complications as we have no jurisdiction over them."
People should be "vigilant when consulting suspicious healthcare practitioners, including those advertising various types of miracle healthcare solutions".
The council was working with the police to investigate the bogus doctors, she said.
- IOL
Now the woman is penniless and deeply in debt, having sold all her possessions.
The three, originally from Uganda, are to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court in December on charges of theft after police raided their consultation rooms.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut said the three – aged 30, 31 and 41, respectively – had been arrested and released on bail.
A fourth person, one Doctor Allie, was yet to be arrested.
He warned of more arrests of so-called healers who call themselves "doctor" and "professor", saying they were suspected of defrauding their patients.
"(We) are aware of herbalists who defraud their patients.
"People are warned to refrain from making use of these services," Traut said.
While Cape Town was inundated by these "herbalists" – who often advertise their services in pamphlets handed out on streets claiming to fix anything from erectile dysfunction and fertility problems to financial problems and winning back lost lovers – the people who were conned out of their money were often "reluctant to register cases", Traut said.
The arrests follow a complaint by a Grassy Park woman who allegedly lost R121 400, which she paid as consultation and "sacrificial" fees to the three herbalists based in Grassy Park and Cape Town.
The mother of three, who has declined to be named, is now facing eviction from her rented home after she was left penniless.
Not only was she in debt, she said, but she had also lost friends and relatives from whom she had borrowed money.
What she initially thought would be a once-off payment of R50 000 to a Grassy Park herbalist to get a return of R3.4 million – which she was told was a "gift from my ancestors" – had gradually increased to R121 400 after the "herbalists" kept on asking for more money until she had nothing left.
"They've left me with absolutely nothing," the weeping woman said.
"I have lost everything… friends, family members and my job. My home is standing empty as I had to sell all my furniture to repay the money I owed them.
"I still can't believe how I was duped and fell for the theories. I was just beside myself."
Her problems started in February when she mistakenly knocked on a herbalist's door while looking for the Legal Aid offices in Grassy Park for advice about a divorce.
A Dr Sheila said she could solve all the woman's legal problems as she specialised in legal, financial and health matters.
After the initial consultation, she was told that if she wanted to get rich, she had to pay R50 000 – which she raised by borrowing from friends.
"I was then put in this dark room with burning incense that was only lit with a candlelight.
"What looked like stacks of money in a suitcase and plastic crates was brought into the room. A man with a deep voice, which I was told was my ancestor, said the money is all mine.
"I couldn't believe my luck. I thought all my problems would go away if I laid my hands on it."
But there were more conditions before she could get the money. She had to go home and wash with herbs and burn more incense to "cleanse" herself of bad spirits.
She also had to pay R21 000 for a "unique" golden mat, which she had to pray over, and R2 500 for a bag that would supposedly help protect her money.
She panicked when she did not get her millions, but was told to be patient as the "herbalist" was on the mountain praying for her.
Then the "herbalist" disappeared.
Desperate, the woman approached another "herbalist", one Dr Allie in the city centre, who "specialised" in "unresolved traditional healing".
She had to be "cleansed" of bad spirits again – a ritual that resulted in her selling a car and paying all her leave pay of nine years. She paid the second "herbalist" R39 500.
But a third herbalist, a Dr Rashid from Grassy Park, convinced her she had made a mistake by consulting the two previous doctors. He was to resolve all her problems, but she had to pay R8 400 in sacrificial animals and a ritual to appease her ancestors to release the "gift" the first doctor had promised her.
"By the time I saw Dr Rashid I was penniless… I had no money to buy food. I had sold everything in the house just to get the millions that were promised to me.
"I felt like the herbalists were sucking blood out of me… the more they sucked, the more I believed in them even though I wasn't going anywhere.
"People ask me what was I thinking to believe their lies, but I also don't know why I kept going back… I feel so foolish to have believed anything they told me," the woman said.
Phethisile Maseko, national coordinator of the Traditional Healers Organisation, said many people were duped by so-called healers, particularly in big cities.
She distanced her organisation from them, saying it recognised only southern African healers and not east African healers.
"As the Traditional Healers Organisation we don't recognise these healers as their conduct is magical and very different from traditional medicine practised in southern Africa," she said.
"Our principle is that a healer shouldn't be nomadic… a practitioner should be someone who establishes a relationship with a patient, and has a fixed address.
"Traditional practitioners shouldn't charge exorbitant amounts of money."
Maseko said any healer who charged more than R100 for a consultation and asked for large amounts of money for rituals should be treated with suspicion.
Lize Nel, spokeswoman for the Health Professions Council of SA, said the "healers" put people's lives at risk by their methods.
"The council cannot hold them accountable in case of negligence or complications as we have no jurisdiction over them."
People should be "vigilant when consulting suspicious healthcare practitioners, including those advertising various types of miracle healthcare solutions".
The council was working with the police to investigate the bogus doctors, she said.
- IOL
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