2010/02/04
HUNDREDS of people have walked long distances to Hluleka in the Transkei this week to hear a minibus taxi driver who claims he returned from the dead eight years after he was buried.
The true facts of how Nkosinathi Ntsente, 39, was supposedly shot dead in taxi violence and publicly buried, and was then found wandering around a village eight years later remains a mystery.
Ntsente himself tells a story that is filled with mysticism, but comes no closer to explaining what happened.
Ntsente’s supposed “resurrection” has spread like a wildfire through Transkei, drawing crowds to his homestead.
From the early hours of the morning until late, he keeps repeating his story of how he was forced to survive on human blood, sorghum and wild berries while living in the forest.
“I’m tired of telling the same story, the whole day, every day,” he said.
It was believed Ntsente had been shot dead in 2001 during taxi-related violence between the Ncedo and Border taxi associations.
Ntsente claims the gunmen were in white minibus taxi – and that he saw it all happening. “During the shooting I saw myself standing on another side watching a person who resembled me being shot in the forehead, right knee stomach and spine.”
Ntsente said his badly injured “duplicate” was taken to St Barnabas Hospital in Libode . “I witnessed this person dying. The body was taken to the hospital’s mortuary where (it was) cut open to remove internal organs before it was kept in a fridge.”
Ntsente claims he even witnessed his night vigil and funeral and was then taken by “four female witches” to a dark forest where he met “lots of other abducted people”.
“We mostly drank blood and ate izinsipa (used sorghum) and wild berries. I was released after witches said I was too powerful for them to make me do evil things,” he said.
The news of his “awakening” broke on March 23 when his uncle, Washington Qalingoma, 59, and his elderly mother Mabhikani Ntsente found him wandering the streets in Ngqeleni and took him home.
Qalingoma said he believed Ntsente had been abducted, but could not explain why a funeral had been held. “It would be up to his father’s family to decide whether or not to open the grave in order to see what is inside the coffin,” said Qalingoma.
Mabhikani said she was only interested in taking care of her son: “I’m only happy that I have my son again after I had buried his body.”
On Monday, local minibus taxi owners threw a party at the Hluleka taxi rank to celebrate Ntsente’ s “return from the death”.
His old friend Duma Ndzendze said people in the local taxi industry were still celebrating. “We are going to support him until he fully recovers,” he said. “Right now his mind does not sound stable.” - By BONGANI HANS, Mthatha Bureau.
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