INSIGHT

Brenda Beukman

THE use of human body parts for medicinal purposes – “muti”, derived from the word meaning tree – is based in the belief that it is possible to appropriate the life force of one person through its literal consumption of another. Medicine, or muti, murder appears in several countries across Africa, with ethnographic evidence going back to the early nineteenth century in South Africa. Research indicates that an estimated 80percent of South Africans regularly use traditional herbs and medicines for muti.

Not all traditional healers make use of human body parts as an ingredient in their medicines, but those who do place an “order” with a person hired for this specialist purpose. The orders include private parts, tongues, hands, heads, eyes and lips which are used to ensure economic prosperity, sexual potency and to promote romantic matters amongst others.

These are the type of self-centred motives that leads to murder.

The use of human body matter does, however, not always involve killing. F or example, a living person’s nail clippings or hair cuttings may secretly be collected by a jealous neighbour or friend and used in potions targeted against that person. Body parts can also be harvested from corpses, with mortuary workers and hospital staff implicated in this aspect of the trade.

The body parts are usually mixed with other medicinal plant matter. This contributes to traditional healers being viewed with suspicion. H owever, the traditional healers involved in muti- murders are usually not your mainstream traditional healers.

In South Africa, there currently seems to be an increase in muti-murders. The Limpopo province recorded 250 muti-murders in a single year. This increase is also well documented in the Eastern Cape, with muti-murders occurring in the Bizana and Butterworth areas.

The actual frequency of muti-murders is difficult to gauge because in a country with an exceptionally high murder rate it is likely that not every muti-related murder is recognised and recorded as such.

Although there is no existing profile of a muti-murderer, research indicates that certain gangs specialise in muti- killings and a syndicate is formed between the murderer(s) and the buyer.

This was evident in the muti-murders earlier this year in the Bizana area.

The involvement of more than one individual in muti-related murders complicates the police investigation, as the modus operandi will differ from gang member to gang member, including the amount of violence used. This can be problematic when attempts are made to link different murders to each other.

Muti-murder can be distinguished from ritualistic murders by their motive and modus operandi.

Ritualistic murders are committed in a specific way which is repeated in each murder and can include symbols being left at each murder scene. Crimes entailing ritual violence are generally referred to as cult or occult crime.

Unlike ritualistic murder, where death is the express purpose of the act, death in muti-related killings are an anticipated and accepted by-product of the garnering of human organs – but it is not the main aim.

Ritualistic murder and muti-murders differ from serial murders in that the latter has a sexual motive and, in the majority of the murders, the victim’s body is buried.

In ritualistic and muti-murders however, the victims are not buried and research indicates that muti-murders appear to be committed close to rivers.

All three crimes are by no means random or spontaneous but rather carefully planned, which indicates the conscious and deliberate selection of a suitable victim.

Muti-murders might appear to be a throwback to an uncivilised time, yet the current increase correlates with economic and political stress. This argument deserves some attention when viewing it in the context of the motive for the crime, which centres around financial prosperity, power and increased performance. Such killings could symbolise a desperate attempt at gaining some control and predictability.

Very often murders committed in this manner are explained by referring to the offender as being a psychopath, someone who violates the rights of others and does not show empathy nor guilt. H owever, following a criminological approach, the brutality and callousness can be interpreted as being indicative of intent.

Theoretical explanation can vary from the individuals committing the crime due to a lack of conventional opportunities, coupled with a desire for success, to a lack of meaningful and law-abiding attachment, commitment, involvement and belief in a conventional society.

The association and personal exposure to aggressive and criminal behaviour can also not be ignored.

Attempts to explain and understand criminal behaviour is usually done in order to predict and ultimately prevent crime.

However, there seems to be a tendency by the general public to attach an explanation of bizarre and brutal killings to a phenomenon so as to alleviate their accountability in these murders, thereby forgetting that crime is a symptom of what is happening within their society or community.

Dr Brenda Beukman is a forensic criminologist and acting head of the Department of Criminology and Administration of Criminal Justice at Walter Sisulu University.