Benedict Daswa (16 June 1946-2 February
1990) was a South African school teacher and principal. He and his family
belonged to a tribe called Lemba tribe in rural Venda, which follows many
Jewish customs.
At the age of 17 he converted to
Catholicism after being introduced to the faith when he visited a friend in
Johannesburg. After taking up the faith he decided to teach Catholicism to
young members of his community.
Thunderstorms and lightning struck the area of his tribe in November 1989 going on to January 1990, causing a group of local community
leaders to think that the lightning occurred because of magic. The leaders
collected R5 from all community members to pay for a “sangoma” (a traditional
healer) who would find the “witch” responsible for the thunder and lightning
storms. Daswa believed that the storms were a natural phenomena and said that a
traditional healer constituted witchcraft and this went against his faith and beliefs. He,
thus, refused to pay the money for the traditional healer.
Members of the community were offended by
his decision. On the evening of February 2, 1990, Daswa was driving home alone after
taking his sister-in-law and her son to the doctor. He came across tree logs
that blocked the road. Daswa got out of the car to investigate when a mob of
people came up to him and started to beat and stone him. He ran away but was
soon trapped, his final words were “God, into your hands, receive my spirit”
before he was hit over the head with a “knobkerrie”.
After his death, the Catholic Church viewed
him as a martyr for his faith and his
martyrdom was confirmed in 2015 and on September, 13, 2015 he was beatified in
Limpopo. He is now known as Blessed Benedict Daswa in the Catholic Church.
Further Reading:
Benedict Daswa Archive
Benedict Daswa – A Saint for South Africa
Hi Thandi, thank you for this. I hadn't come across this incident. Do you know more about what happened next? Did the case of his murder go to trial, and do you know what the defence argued in relation to the mob? This is a classic situation in which a "cultural defence" may be brought, particularly if the reason behind his murder was suspicion of witchcraft.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this really interesting trivia post Thandi. Again, as with the film, "A Reasonable Man", context is vital to understanding the actions of the individuals offended by Daswa and by Daswa himself. Realistically, being murdered for a R5 seems absurd, yet the course of action was completely reasonable at the time. What happened after these events? I would really appreciate it if you were able to give more information on what followed after Daswa'a death.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lannie and Gustav for your comments. As far as I know and what I read the people who attacked and killed him were not sent to trial. I saw the relation between Daswa and the movie "A Reasonable Man" about two men who firmly stood up for their beliefs and who would not let anyone change their minds or change their beliefs. I also saw the similarities between the two texts in that those who saw the differences and what to find guilt did not attempt to understand the other's culture. As in "A Reasonable Man", Sipho had a lawyer you wanted to find his innocence and question the meaning of 'reasonable', Daswa, one could say, had the Catholic Church to speak for him and argue his being a 'reasonable man' for standing up for his beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you found this interesting.
The individuals were also not convicted for murder.
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