Daily Sun (August 20 2015) - XOLA IS not scared of living among the bees which occupy his house.
He knows the ancestors have sent the bees to him and he accommodates them.
HE EVEN TOOK HIS CLOTHES OUT OF THE WARDROBE TO MAKE ROOM FOR THEM.
The SunTeam asked Xola Ncamazana (44) of Cambridge, East London, Eastern Cape if they could see the bees, but Xola said he had to ask the ancestors first.
He went into the house and burnt impepho and then asked the ancestors for permission. “When I want to talk to the bees I have to take off my shoes and burn impepho. Then I have to kneel down and talk to them. They show me they have heard me and approve if they crawl through my legs,” he said.
When he came out he said the ancestors approved and we could go in to take pictures. Xola sleeps in the house with the bees and they don’t sting him.
He said the bees arrived at the Ncamazana family home unexpectedly in 2012. “I decided to take my clothes out of the wardrobe so they could live there peacefully.”
Earlier this year, he went to a sangoma. The sangoma said his ancestors are angry because after his great-grandfather, Ncamazana, died many years ago, Xola’s family didn’t practise the Ncamazana customs.
The custom, according to the sangoma, is to slaughter a goat and a cow and prepare mqombothi to appease the ancestors. The ceremony should be done a few years after the death. “I have money for a goat but I need money for an ox. It’s not easy because I work as a gardener,” he said. “All the money I make I put next to the bees.”
Things have not been going well for Xola. He can’t work because he was burnt when he fell on a pot of boiling water while cooking. He also suffers from epilepsy. “I suspect my ancestors are punishing me,” he said.
A neighbour told Daily Sun Xola must hurry up before the ancestors get angry again. “We took 13 years before we did the rituals and the ancestors were angry. The bees stung many goats and killed them,” he said.
Anyone who can help Xola should contact the Daily Sun Eastern Cape office on 079 999 7041.
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