The live cobra was wrapped in a black cloth and placed in a home-made winnowing basket filed with rapoko, torching a witchcraft scare across Lobengula suburb.
Residents took turns to take pictures using their mobile phones. On one side of the gate was a python, nearly three metres long, a clay pot with snuff, snake skin and a bottle with some roots dipped in it. The dead python had a black cloth around its neck and was tied to the gate.
On the other side was a home-made basket filled with rapoko, pieces of dry and fresh roots and an ox tail (itshoba) next to the basket. Commuter omnibus operators cashed in on the situation as residents flocked from other suburbs to witness the bizarre incident.
The huge crowd scurried for cover when the python, measuring about two metres, suddenly bolted out of the black cloth in the basket. The owner of the house, Miriam Ndlovu, killed the snake with a cooking stick.
She told Chronicle: “I woke up at 5AM and started sweeping my yard. As I approached the gate I saw a basket and went to check only to be shocked to see a snake tied to the gate, a clay pot and other items.”Ndlovu, who comes from Beitbridge, added: “The big snake was dead and later on we discovered that there was another one wrapped in a black cloth. I used a cooking stick to kill it.”
She said she saw a car flashing some lights and two men and a woman disembarking from it but she didn’t suspect anything, assuming they were neighbours. Ndlovu claimed she was warned through a dream that some strange things would happen to her.
“I prayed as I retired to bed last night because I could feel that something was wrong,” she said, ruling out the involvement of neighbours. “This is a human being transformed into a snake,” exclaimed Sazini Moyo, a resident.
Some were heard recounting strange stories alleging that the weird items could belong to a witch who could have “fallen” at night while on an evil expedition. Ward 14 resident Langelihle Dube was brave enough to touch the snakes and the strange items. He said the suburb should be cleansed of evil spirits.
“I go to Revelation Church and use holy water and salt, that’s why I’m not afraid of touching these things,” he said. “We’ve never seen such a thing since we started staying here in the 1980s and we wish our area could be cleansed.”
Ndlovu’s son in-law, Chris Sibanda, said he was in a state of disbelief after she called him.
Police attended to the scene but Bulawayo spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo declined to comment, saying the matter should be handled by the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority whose officers collected the snakes at Magwegwe Police Station.
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