on 702, The Soil vocalist, Buhlebendalo
Mda, who also posts images of her ancestral
experiences said, “I was born a healer. I was
healing way before I went in for initiation.
If God or my ancestors instruct me to do
something, then I’ll do it.” Mngoma, who
alsomakesuseofdigitalplatformssuchas
FaceTimeandInstagramtocommunicate
withandhelpherclients,sayssheplayeda
hugeroleinencouragingyoungpeoplewho
alsohadcallingsbutwereafraidtoaccept
orembraceit.“Weneedtospreadtheword
thatbeinga sangomaisnothowit’sportrait
asthis‘dirtyoldwomanwithsnuff ’butit
canbea glamorouseducatedwomantoo.”
Ndlanziaddsthatyoungtraditionalhealers
helpinterrogatetherelevanceofthisformof
practiceinthisdayandage.“Youngsangomas
arequestioningthemeaningbehindeverything
doneinthiscallingandhowit’sofserviceto
them.Ifthesequestionsarenotasked,things
willbedeemedirrelevantforthemodern
times,”Ndlanzisays,“butweneedtobe
carefulofourradicalismasyoungtraditional
healersthatinourattempttochangetheface
ofthiscalling,wecouldactuallydisableit.We
needtoaskifwe’rechangingitforthebetter
andinnovatearoundittokeepthepractice
aliveorwhetherwe’rewritingitoffbecause
weseeitasaninconveniencetous.”
AlthoughNdlanzisaysthatsomeancestors
arestrict,especiallyinhowyoumustpresentyourself, Mngoma says there has never been
conflict on how glam she chooses to look and what
the ancestors expect of her. “iDlozi eliphila kimi
lisebenzisana nami ukuze sijabulisane spiritually.
(The spirit that lives in me works hand-in-hand
with me so we can both be happy). I must enjoy
my calling in order to communicate well with
my ancestors,” Mngoma adds, “Yes, I used to love
long nails but due to the flame catching my nails
whenever I burn incense, I just stick to short gelish
nails. When it comes to my hair, I wear wigs but the
minute I get to the car I remove it because of the
slight headache that occurs after hours of wearing it.”DIGITALISING UBUNGOMA
With the number of internet users rising to more
than four billion in 2019, followed by more than
three billion social media users globally, according
to a digital marketing website, http://www.smartinsights.
com, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen dlozis use these
platforms to share information.
“My intention for using social media has always
been to inspire,” Ndlanzi explains, “To me, the word
inspiration means to help return people to their
spirits, which is what I believe is the core essence
of our identity because that is what connects us to
the image of the creator. Therefore, I share content
on these platforms to return people to the essence
of their own truth, awakening and understanding
that they’re co-creators in their lives and not held
hostage by some being in the sky. To me, it’s been
an effective platform because it has given peopleBOITY THULOGOGO DINEO NDLANZIKWENZEKILE MNGOMABUHLEBENDALO MDA86 |^ OCTOBER^2019 | WWW.TRUELOVE.CO.ZA