"I Had a Calling": White British Man Opens Up About Becoming a Sangoma in South Africa
- Dan Paige, a British man living in Southern Africa, revealed how a chance encounter led him to pursue a calling as a traditional healer
- Paige later discovered that his family had a connection to a coloured South African family, which he says explains where his calling stems from
- The sangoma acknowledged that his background has drawn scepticism, but said he completed the same ukuthwasa process as any other traditional healer
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SOUTH AFRICA - Dan Paige is not your typical sangoma. The white British man moved from the United Kingdom to Botswana before eventually making his way to South Africa, where his life took an unexpected turn.
Speaking on Radio 702, he said it began when he met a woman who, he says, told him details about his personal life and family that he could not explain. She then told him he had a calling to become a traditional healer.
Dan Paige's South African Roots
What followed was a family discovery that changed how Paige understood everything. His family traced a connection to a coloured South African family, something they had not previously known about. He said his mother and grandmother had also shown prophetic tendencies throughout their lives.
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"Yeah, so there was a coloured family that I'm related to, which is where the calling stems from," Paige said.
That ancestral link became the foundation on which he built his decision to go through ukuthwasa, the traditional process of becoming a sangoma.
Facing scepticism as a white sangoma
Paige is open about the fact that his appearance has made some people doubt whether his calling is genuine. He has encountered those who believe traditional healing belongs exclusively to Black Africans, and he takes those questions seriously rather than dismissing them.
His response has been to point to ancestry that stretches across generations, not just what is visible on the surface. He also made a point of going through the process without taking shortcuts.
"I didn't do it in a European way or any way different to any other African going through ukuthwasa," he said.
His family and a business partner of more than 20 years have stood behind him throughout.
Paige's area of focus is working with people who believe they are suffering from witchcraft, a subject he acknowledges makes people uncomfortable.
His clients come from Nigeria, Ghana, the Dominican Republic and England, and he reaches them through radio, podcasts, television and social media.
Calling for documented traditional healers
Beyond his own practice, Paige has spoken out about accountability in traditional healing. He believes clients deserve the ability to verify whether a healer has completed the required training and holds the necessary certification.
For him, the journey from Britain to the role of a sangoma is not something he chose lightly. It is, he maintains, a calling his own family only came to understand once the threads of their South African past were finally uncovered.
Afrikaner woman shares on her sangoma journey
Previously, Briefly News reported that a white South African woman revealed her unexpected journey to becoming a sangoma, explaining how she discovered she had "a calling" that initially made her sick. The Afrikaner traditional healer described how she can communicate with ancestors, referring to herself as a spiritual healer, ancestral channel, and psychic medium. Netizens had mixed reactions to her story, with some praising cultural integration while others questioned whether her adoption of traditional practices showed respect or appropriation.
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Source: Briefly News
