Anyone with friends or family who are dabbling in witchcraft should pray for the intercession of a South African man who was martyred 25 years today for opposing the practice and who will soon be added to the Church’s glorious list of the beatified.
A few weeks ago, Pope Francis approved a recommendation regarding the beatification of Servant of God, Benedict Daswa, who is now on his way to becoming the first canonized saint of South Africa.
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Daswa who was stoned and beaten to death by local villagers on February 2, 1990 because of his opposition to witchcraft and other occult practices inherent in the culture.
A devout Catholic and father of eight, he was born into the Jewish Lemba tribe in rural Limpopo, South Africa in 1946. He grew up observing Jewish customs but was baptized into the Catholic Church at the age of 17. He took the name Benedict after both the sixth-century monk and his catechist, who was named Benedict Risimati. Shortly after his confirmation, he became very interested in teaching younger members of his community about Catholicism.
But this wasn’t the only way he served his community. A kind and generous man, he was known for keeping a small vegetable garden where he grew tomatoes, onions and other produce that he freely gave to anyone in need.
Devoted to his family, he broke with local tradition and was often seen helping his wife with chores, something that was never done in that culture.
“You would see Benedict washing the nappies of his babies,” said his close friend, Chris Mphaphuli, to The Mercury. “This is not something you see in this area. Men have their tasks and women have theirs. But for Benedict there was none of that. He was ahead of his time. Some people said he was bewitched.”
Those suspicions grew stronger when he refused to allow his soccer team to wear good luck charms during an important match. Superstitions such as these were rampant in the Venda culture in which he lived as well as other much more violent traditions such as ancestor worship and ritual murder. In this northeastern section of South Africa, children have been known to be killed and their body parts buried or used in magic potions to protect the village. These practices are generally considered to be good for the community and are tolerated by most, as are the witch doctors or sangomas, who are often the only medical help in the area.
But Daswa wanted nothing to do with the occult, a position that made him more and more unpopular in the local community.
The issue came to a head after a lightning storm caused three huts to burn down in a nearby village. The elders blamed it on a witch and began to raise money to conduct a witch-hunt. Daswa flatly refused to take part and said the lightening was a natural phenomenon that had nothing to do with witchcraft.
On February 2, 1990, he was driving home from a visit to a sick sister-in-law when he found the road blocked by what appeared to be a fallen tree. When he got out to investigate, he was ambushed by men from his own community who were wielding rocks and clubs.
He managed to escape and sought shelter in a local pub, but he was quickly forced back outside by people who feared becoming the victim of the mob themselves.
Daswa began to pray as the mob surrounded him. According to the diocesan investigation, just as the blow came toward him that would end his life, he was heard to pray, “God, into your hands, receive my spirit.”
Even though his critics tried to justify his murder by accusing him of turning his back on the Venda culture to embrace Western traditions, his son Lufuno Daswa disagrees.
“I was young when he died… I only managed to live with him for 14 years. My memories are getting a little bit faint. I am now approaching 40, but as as I can remember he was the best father,” said the young man who is training to be a teacher at the University of Venda in Thohoyandou. “He was open to life, to goodness. He was a helper, a people’s helper. The whole village depended on his small garden for vegetables, fresh vegetables, tomatoes, onions. Some of them were so poor that he would let them have without even money. “
He continued: “He made us work hard in the garden. Like now I’m studying, but I work in the garden,” said Lufuno Daswa. “I studied at Saint Brendan’s Catholic school… It was the 1980s, but he sent us to the best school in the Northern Province… Maybe the top five at that time. So he was a visionary. He was a natural leader. He led the family well. He led the church well. We could go to him. He was friendly. He was everything you could ask for in a father.”
A date for the beatification is expected to be announced soon.
