Popular female and male celebrity sangomas in South Africa in 2022
Female and male celebrity sangomas received praises and criticism in equal measure when they came out through social media and mainstream media interviews. Mzansi natives who consider being a traditional healer a great honour support them. Those who frown upon these sangoma celebrities perceive it as an outdated practice or a contradiction to their new religious beliefs.
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Source: Getty Images
Who are celebrity sangomas? These are famous shamans, healers, priests, and prophets. They are pillars of most African communities. So, what are sangomas called? People generally call them inyangas or sangomas. However, each Mzansi community has a title for their traditional healers. For instance, amadloti in siSwati, amadlozi in Zulu, badimo in Sesotho and izinyanya in Xhosa.
South African celebrities who are sangomas
The spiritual world (gods and forefathers) help them find protective and curative traditional African medicine from nature, lift curses and prevent future calamities from harming the community or individuals, among other things. Some celebrity sangomas in South Africa completed their traditional healing training but have never practised it.
1. Baby Cele Maloka
Source: Instagram
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The former Uzalo actress tops this list of celebrity sangomas. Baby Cele did not choose to be a healer but accepted it in May 2004 after her younger siblings' mysterious deaths. The actress gave fans some insights into the spiritual and traditional healing world last year after over eighteen years of experience.
2. Bala Phelo
Source: Instagram
Phelo was the youngest of The Bala brothers band and a member of the Joyous Celebration gospel choir (2011-2015). He revealed in 2018 that music was not his calling after releasing a solo hit album titled Ndim’Lo in 2017.
The singer accepted his spiritual call in 2014 after experiencing persistent body flu. A sangoma helped him recover when doctors gave up on him. Phelo admitted that he would not make music forever. Instead, his calling is to heal people through traditional healing.
3. Boity Thulo
Source: Instagram
Boity became a healer in 2018 and shocked many by foretelling a friend's pregnancy online a few years later. The rapper told TshisaLIVE that she was waiting for her ancestors to help her start practising at their appointed time.
4. Bongani Masondo
Source: Instagram
The former Skeem Saam actor revealed in 2017 that he put his acting career on hold in 2011 because his ancestors instructed him to go for training.
5. Buhle Mda
Source: Facebook
In 2016, singer Buhle announced on Facebook that she needed a break to attend initiation classes. The Soil band temporarily replaced her with Theo Motshoba. The celerity graduated from the sangoma school after seven months. Buhle was welcomed back from training with ululations, songs and drums at her home in Protea Glen.
6. Dawn Thandeka King
Source: Instagram
Dawn King told TshisaLIVE in 2017 that she discovered her gift would benefit her more than become an obstacle to her ambitions. The Uzalo actress also told her Instagram followers that she loved the journey of becoming a healer.
7. Dineo Langa
Source: Instagram
After seven years of dating, rapper Solo Langa and actress Dineo Moeketsi tied the knot in 2019. The couple unveiled the importance of spirituality while speaking about their marriage on 1Magic's Kwakuhle Kwethu program. The couple accepted their ancestral callings as sangomas.
8. Dineo Ranaka
Source: Instagram
Ranaka told Sowetan that she received the gift from her maternal great-great-grandfather at a tender age. However, she stopped living in denial in her 20s when doctors could not diagnose the strange illness that attacked her.
The sickness also evoked mysterious dreams and visions. As a result, Dineo's makeup artist Nthabiseng introduced her to a relative/traditional mentor called Dr Ngwato.
9. Gigi Lamayne
Source: Facebook
During Drum Magazine's podcast, Genesis Gabriella Tina Manney said that she discovered her calling at age 11 but did not fully understand it till she encountered strange phycological issues around 2018. The rapper was initiated in a remote place outside Johannesburg upon discovering that traditional healing her lineage.
10. Kelly Khumalo
Source: Facebook
The singer/businesswoman and Zandile (her sister) allegedly went to a sangoma for ritual cleansing in 2019, hours after her baby daddy, the late Senzo Meyiwa (former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates captain), was killed.
She also talked about her sangoma training during the Showmax's Life With Kelly Khumalo reality show. A traditional healer asked Kelly's sick mother to undergo the Thwasa rituals when she noticed her calling. As a result, Khumalo found herself participating in the initiations and training.
11. Lerato Mvelase
Source: Facebook
The musician/actress rejected it at first because she thought it represented darkness and evil but felt like missing something from her spirituality when she grew older.
Lerato later accepted her spiritual calling in 2015. She told SAFM in 2018 that spending six months away from her children for training was tough but worth it.
12. Letoya Makhene
Source: Facebook
Actress Letoya slammed critics who claimed that paying R1000 for a sangoma to throw bones was too much and clarified that charges for her time because her dlozi's attention is precious.
The Generations actress embraced her gift in 2002 at 18 years old. She posted a picture of herself and two other traditional healers dressed in sangoma garb and holding sharp knives. Letoya identified one of the women as Gogo Mulle (her trainer).
13. L’ Vovo
Source: Instagram
The musician went on a five-month spiritual journey in KwaZulu-Natal in 2016 after his grandmother instructed him to do so in a dream. Moreover, he is not offended when people address him as makhosi because he completed the thwasa rituals. His gobela, Zanele Zuke, encouraged him when he felt like quitting the training.
14. Luyanda Potwana
Source: Instagram
The former Nyan Nyan presenter's spiritual journey began a few months before making it a public affair. Viewers questioned the white beads he wore around his neck on TV last year, for they are primarily made for Izangoma or people born with spiritual gifts.
15. Mlungisi Mathe
Source: Facebook
The Skeem Saam actor answered his ancestral calling last year. He discovered he had amadlozi before age 15 when spirits haunted him through dreams and visions but was clueless about the situation.
Mlungisi was also confused because he had no one to guide him. The practising sangoma is still undergoing ukuthwasa. He is not just a sangoma but also a spiritualist and medium.
16. Masechaba Khumalo
Source: Instagram
The radio and TV presenter turned government spokesperson posted herself wearing a Sangoma regalia. Masechaba also shared on Instagram pictures of Gogo Dineo while stating that Dineo was her friend and teacher. Later, Masecha claimed that the viral images were of her filming the first episode of The Big Secret.
17. Mosebjadi Oratile Tlhologelo
Source: Instagram
Last year, the Skeem Saam actress told TshisaLIVE that she was ready to practise her gift. Oratile Maitisa also shared pictures of herself donning traditional sangoma attire. She discovered the blessing in her childhood and respected it because it is not something to play with or ignore.
18. Nandi Nyembe
Source: Facebook
Is Gogo Nandi a traditional healer? Nandi no longer practises sangoma but assists her daughter (a traditional healer) with her sangoma duties. The veteran actress was initiated at age 17 after the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital's doctors found soil in her urine but could not detect any illness in her body.
19. Noninzi Williams
Source: Facebook
Teenager Noninzi would become violent when acting. She would throw stones at her audience and shout obscenities, unaware that her ancestors were calling her to be a traditional healer. Noninzi resisted them for years but gave in at age 52 when a strange illness coupled with bad luck and terrifying dreams befell her.
20. Shoki Mmola
Source: Instagram
The veteran actress revealed how she balanced her calling and career. The former Skeem Saam sacrificed her sleep and took vitamin supplements because many needed her help. Shoki overcame the fear of it affecting her budding career by acknowledging that she was born into it.
21. Solo Langa
Source: Instagram
The rapper knew he was gifted at a young age, but things made more sense as a young adult. He became curious and desired to explore the gift. As a result, Solo and Dineo (his wife) decided to go through the initiation process together.
22. Tol A$$ Mo
Source: Facebook
Last year, the retired stand-up comedian's wife posted his journey toward becoming a sangoma and the homecoming ceremony on social media after running away from the ancestral signs for years. Nonetheless, the couple does not impose their beliefs on others.
23. Zokufa Busi
Source: Facebook
Busi used the wheelchair for about a month and could not help herself. The actress would strongly desire to eat her script papers, bad dreams and spinal cord injuries. The pain ended when her ancestors told her to put boiled water in a bottle and place the aching body part. As a result, Zokufa decided to listen to her ancestors and perform thwasa in 2008.
24. Zola Hashatsi
Source: Instagram
Zola's spiritual journey began in 2018 at age 30. He headed to his late great-grandmother's instructions because he believed her spirit protected him from evil. Zola, however, clarified that he only heals and nothing more.
25. Zola 7
Source: Instagram
Is Zola 7 a sangoma? Two Mzansi celebrities admitted that he is a traditional healer after visiting his home in Johannesburg last year for free sangoma consultations. Zola refused to comment on the issue when CityPress contacted him.
How do sangomas communicate?
They hold normal conversations with their clients using indigenous African languages. However, some also use the national languages and foreign languages. Speaking in tongues comes in when they are communicating with the spiritual world.
Is Bonang a sangoma?
Bonang Matheba is among Mzansi's famous people who denied being celebrity traditional healers. Other stars who have publicly owned their calling include:
- Author Mongane Wally Serote
- Actress Sindi Khambule
- Model Linda Mkhize
- Media personality Segale Mogotsi
- John Lockley
- Phenny Bernard
Mzansi wonders whether some of these female and male celebrity sangomas are genuinely gifted or use it as a fashionable thing. Find pictures of celebrity sangomas on their official social media sites. Some even advertise their services and charges.
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Source: Briefly News
