‘African witchcraft’ an academic misnomer

October 1, 2012 | Damon Leff

Minority Review | Penton Independent Pagan Media

http://www.penton.co.za/?p=2639

 

An article I was recently invited to write for the Port Elizabeth Herald’s Weekend Post was published this weekend under the title ‘Satanists challenge legitimacy of proposed occult units’. My suggested title, ‘Occultists challenge Orcs’ legitimacy’, would have been more accurate than the one chosen by the sub-editor of the Herald.

I wrote the article as the director of the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA). I am a Witch, not a Satanist. SAPRA does not represent any Satanists and does not speak for Satanism in this country. To date, the PE Herald has not invited any self-identified Satanists an opportunity to comment on the newly released ORC investigation mandate.

The selected title ‘Satanists challenge legitimacy of proposed occult units’ is therefore both misleading and unreasonable because it does not reflect actual published information. Satanists in South Africa have not been given any public platform on which to object against anything yet. In my opinion, the published title contravenes the SA Press Code in respect of section 11.1 – Headlines and captions to pictures shall give a reasonable reflection of the contents of the report or picture in question. As most Occultists know, Satanism and Witchcraft are two distinctly different religions. Witchcraft falls under the new religious movement identified as Paganism, whilst Satanism does not. Deliberately conflating one with the other is nothing but tabloid sensationalism.

Of course I do expect the Weekend Post to print an apology and correction in order to remedy the misunderstanding the editor has created in the minds of readers. I must agree with Thomas Sowell, “If people in the media cannot decide whether they are in the business of reporting news or manufacturing propaganda, it is all the more important that the public understand that difference, and choose their news sources accordingly.”

The Weekend Post also published comment from Dr Theodore Petrus, Senior Lecturer Anthropology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology (University not named) entitled ‘SAPS “occult” unit welcome with caution’. The editor chose to headline a quote above this by Petrus, “African witchcraft and western society oriented Satanism are not quite the same”, as “Expert opinion”. Not quite! What generally passes for so-called expert opinion on anything related to Witchcraft in this country is however most often simply regurgitated and non-factual propaganda, and Dr Theodore Petrus’ recently published comments on Traditional African religions, Witchcraft and Satanism, are a choice example of this propaganda.

Dr. Petrus is quoted as saying “Firstly, a clear distinction must be drawn between Satanism and witchcraft, specifically African witchcraft, as there is a tendency to conflate the two. Satanism has its roots in Judeo-Christian beliefs while African witchcraft beliefs existed since before the arrival of Christianity in Africa. In other words, Satanism and its beliefs are inherently a Western phenomenon, while African witchcraft beliefs are an inherent part of the cosmological and religious belief systems of African communities.”

No one would argue that the belief in Satan finds its roots in Western Judeo-Christian beliefs, nor that Satanism only truly came into existence as an identifiable modern philosophy and religious ideology in the United States in 1966. But whether “African witchcraft beliefs” existed before the arrival of Christianity in Africa remains a matter of academic conjecture, and the answer is not as conclusive as Dr. Petrus would have us believe. In ‘Imagining Evil: Witchcraft Beliefs and Accusations in Contemporary Africa’ Gerrie ter Haar writes “The term ‘witchcraft’ was popularized in regard to Africa only in the later nineteenth century by Europeans who were applying to Africa ideas derived from their own historical memory of witchcraft in Europe. Before the mid- or late- nineteenth century, some aspects of African religious or spiritual beliefs that were subsequently labelled as ‘witchcraft’ did not go under that name.”

Y.B. Hallen and J.O. Sodipo, Professors of Philosophy at the University of Ile-Ife, Nigeria, have questioned whether the European term witchcraft (derived from the Anglo-Saxon term wicca) is even a suitable word with which to identify often disparate beliefs and practices occurring in very different African cultures and traditions across the continent. “There is no reason to assume that witchcraft in Africa is the same as was witchcraft in Europe, anymore than there was reason to assume that the English-language concept ‘witchcraft’ may serve as an accurate translation of its supposed African-language equivalents. Whatever is translated as being ‘witchcraft’ in Africa (or even in one place in Africa) may well be a very different thing from whatever it is elsewhere in the world and history.”

The pejorative use of the term witchcraft to describe acts of malevolent magic believed to cause misfortune, has indeed become a part of the cosmological and religious belief systems of modern African communities. The prevalence of such beliefs in many communities throughout the continent gives rise to frequent accusations of witchcraft and violent witch-hunts ensue. The actual cultural or religious value of many different variations of beliefs, all referred to as witchcraft, within African societies generally can unfortunately only be measured in tragedy and sorrow, as such beliefs do not bring order or peace to the societies in which such beliefs are held, as anthropologists repeatedly but incorrectly argue.

Dr. Petrus continues his Weekly Post commentary by saying “The influence of Christian beliefs on African belief systems has led to the syncretism or blending of these belief systems into what can be called African Christianity, where African witchcraft (sic) and Satanism are regarded as one and the same.”

Prof. Gordon L. Chavunduka, President of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’ Association argues “Early European Christian missionaries tried to destroy African religion and African medicine. Many African traditional religious rites and rituals were regarded as against the Christian faith and morals. It was also believed that African religion promoted the belief in witchcraft and encouraged people to worship their ancestors instead of worshiping God. African medicine was regarded as unscientific and some of its treatment methods were considered anti-Christian. 

Traditional healers were regarded as heathens because of their participation in African Traditional Religion. Thus, Africans who became Christians were discouraged by the church from taking part in African traditional religious rituals and from consulting traditional healers.”

African Catholic Bishops still annually entreat their congregations to avoid “witchcraft” beliefs, when actually referring to traditional African beliefs and practices. From a Christian perspective, African animist religio-magical beliefs are incorrectly categorized as either witchcraft, paganism or satanism. In his article ‘Can Christianity Dialogue With African Traditional Religion?’ Peter K. Sarpong reminds us that “…African traditional religion, which should be employed for its potentially salutary effect, has been misunderstood and is still misrepresented. The misconception is amply evident from the many wrong names by which traditional religion has been described.”

An example of this historical misunderstanding can be found in the existence of the Witchcraft Suppression Act of 1957, an act drafted to suppress traditional African religious practices, erroneously identified as witchcraft. The Act has effectively institutionalized this misrepresentation in South African law and its existence indirectly prejudices South African citizens who are not adherents of traditional African religions, but who do identify as Witches. In his commentary, Dr. Petrus appears to dismiss the relevance of an existing religious minority that identifies Witchcraft as their religion, a modern Pagan religion that finds its origins in entirely European folk-lore and pre-Christian ‘pagan’ cultures.

The term ‘African witchcraft’ will remain a popular misnomer as long as it continues to be used incorrectly by academics, legal experts, religious leaders and the media, to identify African ethnic and folk religious traditions that do not self-identify as witchcraft. Will actual Witches ever be acknowledged by academia and the media in South Africa as being the only identified religious minority in Africa to use the word witchcraft as a term of identity? Not if Africa’s true Witches keep silent, and we dare not remain silent any longer!

SAPRA Objections to Investigation of alleged ‘harmful occult-related crimes’

September 24, 2012 | Damon Leff

Minority Review | Penton Independent Pagan Media

http://www.penton.co.za/?p=2580

The South African Police Service is launching new regional occult crime units. According to a leaked memorandum [http://www.paganrightsalliance.org/documents/SAPS%20religious%20crimes%20unit%20Mandate.pdf], Provincial Commissioners were recently instructed to appoint two detectives in every province tasked with investigating alleged harmful occult-related crimes.

Those already familiar with the work of the old ORC unit then led by Kobus Jonker, will recall that between 1992 and 2001 the unit is alleged to have investigated 300 cases of muti-related crimes (murders committed for the express purpose of harvesting human body parts for sale to traditional healers).

The ORC’s previous mandate included: a) investigating occult-related crime, b) in conjunction with the South African Police Service Crime Intelligence, promoting the prevention of occult-related crime, c) managing the use and dissemination of information on occult-related crime, and d) rendering services to victims of occult-related crime.

In addition to investigating muti murders, newly appointed detectives will be required to also investigate spectral evidence including spiritual intimidation and astral coercion, curses intended to cause harm, allegations of rape by tokoloshe spirits, and poltergeist and paranormal phenomena.

The units will also be responsible for investigating alleged offences relating to Witchcraft (identified as “black magic” by the SAPS), Voodoo, vampirism, harmful cult behavior, suicide where evidence of occult involvement is present, animal mutilation and sacrifice where evidence of occult involvement is believed to be indicated, human sacrifice, and the interpretation of alleged occult signatures, vandalism and graffiti at crime scenes.

New ORC investigative mandate includes the following categories of investigation:

1. Witchcraft-related offences, including black magic, witch finding and witch purging

2. Traditional healers involved in criminal activities rooted in the occult

3. Curses intended to cause harm

4. The practice of voodoo intended to cause harm

5. Vampirism and joint infringement of the Human Tissues Activities

6. Harmful cult behaviour that infringes on the rights of members of the movement

7. Spiritual intimidation, including astral coercion

8. Vandalism / graffiti leaving evidence that the motive is occult related

9. Suicide leaving evidence of occult involvement

10. Ritualistic abuse in a cult setting

11. Allegations of rape by a tokoloshe spirit

12. Animal mutilation and sacrifice leaving evidence of occult involvement

13. Murder / human sacrifice leaving evidence of occult involvement

14. Interpretation of occult “signatures” and paraphernalia at a crime scene

15. Poltergeist phenomena (unexplained activities by paranormal disruptive entities).

This newly envisioned scope of investigation must be viewed with suspicion and be of concern to anyone engaged in the practice of Witchcraft, Traditional African religion, and other Occult spiritualities (including Satanism). Given the already evident bias expressed by ex-members of ORC and new members of provincial Religious Crimes Units against Witchcraft, SAPRA believes the new mandate potentially threatens religious minorities who may be scapegoated on the basis of belief alone.

It is the informed opinion of this Alliance that the given investigative mandate for the establishment of new provincial Occult Crime Units, in particular, certain ‘categories of crime’ as mentioned in said memorandum, contravene internationally recognized policing ethics and conduct related to a) jurisprudence in the identification and verification of evidence, and b) respect for religious diversity and belief.

Read SAPRA’s Objections - http://www.paganrightsalliance.org/documents/SAPRA%20objection%20to%20SAPS%20Religious%20Crimes%20Unit.pdf

Law of Evidence

The SAPS memorandum states “For a crime to be considered a harmful occult-related crime, the elements of legality, conduct and unlawfulness and culpability have to be present and the motive must be rooted in the supernatural.”

The term ‘supernatural’ is generally defined as something above or beyond the laws of Nature. In a strictly scientific context, the belief in the supernatural agency of a non-corporeal entity (spirit, fairy, demon, God) cannot be proven using the law of evidence in any Court of Law, and therefore cannot be submitted as evidence of anything other than faith in the unknown. Since the courts will not accept evidence of the supernatural on principle, the ORC detectives will be wasting valuable time and effort investigating para-psychological phenomena.

This Alliance is of the informed opinion that SAPS special unit detectives should not be considering the role of alleged supernatural occurrences in the commission or investigation of crimes. A belief in the existence of the supernatural is not, and cannot be viewed as proof of the supernatural. The SAPS must deal in matters of verifiable fact, not religious or cultural belief. The SAPS should not be fulfilling what should remain the role of religious or psychology specialists.

This Alliance objects to the inclusion of unexplained and unprovable supernatural and paranormal activities, as such matters are best left to para-psychologists and spiritualists, not police detectives.

Religious bias, prejudice and propaganda against the Occult

In the SAPS memorandum under objection, newly appointed detectives of regional occult crime units are encouraged to consult with “trained individuals in their respective provinces… with the investigation of an alleged harmful occult-related crime”.

It must be noted that former occult unit detectives, many of whom now independently pursue careers in Christian ministry and in particular, ministry against the Occult, Witchcraft, Satanism, and ‘Spiritual-warfare’ ministries targeted specifically at Witches and Satanists, will be consulted by detectives assigned to regional occult crime units.

This Alliance is of the opinion that consultations with such persons will introduce highly subjective religious bias and prejudicial reasoning into investigations which should remain rationally objective.

SAPRA has submitted formal objection to the scope of the new SAPS mandate and will be closely monitoring the activities of all new ORC units to ensure that innocent civilians are not targeted by un-provable allegations of criminal or harmful activities.

For more information contact the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) at info@paganrightsalliance.org

Exposing the Lies: Inside Servamus’ ‘Drugs & Occult-Related Crime’ Part 1

by Bronwyn Katzke

On my desk sits a most chilling tome. An anthology of misinformation; filled with confusing images, twisted words and blatant lies. Servamus’ Drugs and Occult-Related Crime: The Facts, The Answers is the Malleus Maleficarum of our generation. This propaganda publication has been, and still is, used as a witches’ hammer against constitutionally protected minority religions.

And with the resurrection of SAPS’ Occult-Related Crime Unit in 2012, Pagans, Witches, Occultists, Satanists and Vampyres are facing a possible new wave of propaganda and persecution at the hands of the next-generation of witch-hunters; each trained under the old master of SA’s own ‘satanic panic’- Kobus Jonker.

It is more important than ever that we stand together as a community united against the lies that Kobus Jonker and his ilk that have, and undoubtedly will continue to spread about our community. What this series of articles will ultimately aim to do is dispel the lies and expose the propaganda for what it really is. Now is the time to show the general public that Kobus Jonker, and those who falsely portray themselves as ‘occult experts’, are nothing more than Christian fundamentalists lost in their own deluded occult fantasies.

Each week in the Exposing the Lies series an article from Servamus’ Drugs and Occult-Related Crime: The Facts, The Answers will be dissected and shown for the religious propaganda that it is. This week we start with the first article:

Warriors against Evil

As I open the magazine to page 70 where this article lies, I am greeted with a spread of images from Jonker’s own personal collection of ‘occult paraphernalia’: steak knives, cheap Halloween décor, a homemade Ouija board, a melted mannequin head, skulls and doll heads covered in simulated blood (red paint), heavy metal posters, animal skulls, and even a packet of Dracula Sherbet and a promotional paper cup from the Ghostbusters movie.

In all my years exploring the occult and Paganism I have never read or encountered a call for any of the above to be essential, or even suggested, in the practice of any occult, or Pagan ritual. Even my research of Satanism has turned up zero evidence that any of the above is required in the spiritual practices of Satanism. What Jonker terms as ‘occult paraphernalia’ may in fact just be everyday items used by confused teenagers playing into the very fantasies that he propagates.

The introduction of this article lists purported ‘occult crimes’ committed since 1989 until the first publication of the ‘special edition’ in 1998. Unfortunately these alleged crimes would need to be referenced against SAPS case files, which would be no easy feat; so I cannot verify these ‘facts’. However the next paragraph proves to be most interesting:

“First there is no or very little knowledge about the occult or spirit world with specific reference to Satanism. Investigation officers and the legal profession are skeptical about occult rituals. Not all Satanist activities necessarily constitute crime. Victims often point out scenes where no evidence can be found to correlate with the atrocities supposed to have taken place…Crime scenes are difficult to find or are sometimes not found at all.”

What becomes abundantly clear from the above excerpt is just how deluded the prior ORCU and its leader Kobus Jonker were (and potentially how deluded the new ORCU will be). There is plenty of information on Satanism and occult practices and beliefs, however that factual information contradicts the ORCU fantasy of Satanism and the occult; hence the statement that no information exists.

“Not all Satanist activities necessarily constitute crime,” is the bare truth, but the same can be said for any other belief held by its adherent. Substitute ‘Satanist’ with Christian, Muslim or Jewish and it becomes clear that the belief of a criminal rarely, if at all, has anything to do with the crime committed.

In logical and unbiased investigative work if there is no evidence, then there is no provable crime. And in today’s technologically advanced age, there is no crime that leaves zero evidence. If a ‘victim’ of ‘occult atrocities’ takes an investigator to a scene and claims illegal activities took place there, and a crime scene investigation unit can find zero evidence, odds are the ‘victim’ is lying.

And when it is stated that, “crime scenes are difficult to find or are sometimes not found at all,” it only goes to prove the depth of the occult delusion that Jonker swims in. The fact that they have to actively seek to prove something as an ‘occult crime’ from their warped fundamentalist perspective only further shows their desperation in proving the satanic panic myths true.

In the fourth paragraph the reader is then hit with the ‘big sell’ of the previous ORCU in reference to the occult: “The only way to get out is through the power of Jesus Christ”. A statement based on the testimony of alleged former witch Elaine who claims to have served Satan for 17 years. This paragraph is followed by more testimony from an alleged former ‘Satan worshipper’ who turned to Christianity and at the time of publication, was working as a pastor. But this section ends with a gem of a quote:

“Occult-related crimes are difficult to prevent and to investigate, because the majority of people don’t even know what occult means.”

The absolute irony is that Jonker and his then ORCU did not (and still do not) even know or understand the definition of the occult and the beliefs and practices it encompasses. And once again, it only shows  they are lost in an occult fantasy of their own design- God’s own warriors on a spiritual mission from the Creator Himself to stamp out the non-believers and practitioners of anything that fits the satanic panic lie.

What follows next is a point by point list of the ways in which “the occult is expressed during rituals”:

“Spiritism: Messages from spirits to humans (seven ways of expression)”

It should be spiritualism which is the practice of communication between what is believed to be spirits of the dead and the living. The fact that an alleged ‘occult expert’ can’t even get the terminology correct only further shows them for the fraud they are.

“Magic: A person who uses supernatural powers to influence another person or situation (14 ways of expression)”

Like Christian prayer? My understanding of the concept of prayer is that a supernatural power is petitioned to influence a person (Lord, I pray that Joe Soap repents from his life of occultic worship to follow Jesus Christ) or a situation (Lord, please let me get a new job so I can pay the bills).

Within general magickal practices a higher power/deity is not necessarily invoked or petitioned, but the practitioner relies on their own personal energy to influence the outcome of a situation, and very rarely a person. In the instance of, for example, a Wiccan performing a ritual, they do so under the ethics of the Wiccan rede (An it harm none, do as thy will) and the threefold law (the belief that whatever is ‘sent out’ is returned to the sender threefold). Your average Wiccan would therefore not intentionally perform magick against another person to bring them harm, and very rarely would any other magickal practitioner for that matter.

“Mystic: An intense longing of the soul to make contact with a godhead, by means of withdrawal from the physical world (15 ways of expression).”

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a mystic as being, “a person who seeks to know God through contemplation or prayer.” Within that definition, it is anyone who is deeply spiritual or religious and seeks to know their creator through prayer and contemplating sacred texts or philosophies. The term mystic can be applied to anyone of any religion who fits the above definition- it is not solely bound to an occult definition and one could be a Christian mystic, a Buddhist mystic, an Islamist mystic etc.

“Mantic: To use occult methods to know more about the future (15 ways of expression)”

The term mantic has its roots in the Greek mantikos, meaning ‘prophet’, and in adjective form corresponds to nouns ending in mancy; such as tasseomancy, the art of divination from tea leaves. However, the true definition of the term occult does not relate to anything sinister. The word occult has its roots in the Latin occultus, which means ‘hidden knowledge’. And while it is true that divination has almost always being considered an occult art, it in no way meets the ORCU’s sinister connotations of what constitutes ‘the occult’.

“Satanism: The religion where Satan is served and worshipped. The first four are closely related to Satanism.”

If Jonker and the ORCU, both past and present, are so knowledgeable on the occult and Satanism, then they would know that not all Satanists worship Satan as a deity. Furthermore, as evidence of their complete lack of knowledge, the afore mentioned points on their list are not only incorrect, but are not related to Satanism either.

“New Age: To unleash “inner gods” or spiritual guides, and attain mortal omnipotence. Satanists sell this concept, because it has almost all the elements that they believe in.”

The New Age movement, as per Wikipedia is defined as: “The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational psychology, holistic health, parapsychology, consciousness research and quantum physics".”

The New Age movement is not about ‘unleashing’ spiritual beings in the pursuit of attaining god-like personal power; nor is this movement popularized by practicing Satanists. The claim that the New Age movement is ‘satanic’ is however popularized by the Christian church and it is a claim that is based on prejudice and not on any credible fact.

The article then moves on to target Satanism, which it claims is defined by the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1997, 1004) as:

“Deliberate wickedness, pursuit of evil for its own sake, diabolical disposition; Worship of Satan, with travesty of Christian forms”

However, the online edition of the Oxford dictionary defines Satanism as: “the worship of Satan, typically involving a travesty of Christian symbols and practices, such as placing a cross upside down”. The print edition of the Oxford English Dictionary defines Satanism as: “the worship of Satanism”. And Wikipedia.com further defines Satanism as: “Satanism is a group of religions with diverse ideological and philosophical beliefs. Their shared features include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and in their view liberating figures.”

It should be noted that none of the three definitions evidenced above make mention of ‘deliberate wickedness’, the ‘pursuit of evil’ or any ‘diabolical disposition’. Understandably it could be argued that the definition provided in the article was, in fact, the definition printed in the 1997 edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, but until such a time as I can verify the quote, I will remain skeptical.

However in Warriors against Evil, Satanism is defined as:

“Satanism uses the supernatural powers ruled by Satan to make a mockery of Christianity.”

Again, this is yet another statement that only shows how little Kobus Jonker and the then ORCU knows about Satanism. It is only in the eyes of Christians that Satanism is seen as a direct mockery of Christian beliefs, and they are ones who perpetuate the satanic panic myths. Myths which, more often than not, rebellious teenagers fulfill and when such an occasion arises, the Christian community and the likes of Kobus Jonker stand proud and state, ‘ah, see it is true. Satanism is alive and real. Turn to God and repent.’ When in reality if they had used logic and set aside their prejudice to learn about the occult and Satanism from the real occult experts- actual practitioners- then such an incident would perhaps have been prevented altogether.

However, Jonker and his then ORCU had the audacity to claim that prevention of the occult was their true, tax-funded aim:

“The field of the occult is wide and complex, which makes it extremely difficult to investigate or prevent its harmful activities.”

Contradictory considering the previous statement that there is very little knowledge about the occult in reference to Satanism, and considering the belief held by the ORCU that the occult equals Satanism; therefore the original claim indicated that there was very little knowledge on the occult. What is more disturbing is the assertion in this statement that all occult activities are a) dangerous and b) because of the former, they warrant SAPS investigation funded by the tax payer.

The above statement is highly offensive and discriminatory considering that constitutionally protected and recognized minority religions like Paganism, Witchcraft, Wicca and Satanism identify as being occult religions. The overall implication put forward by Jonker is that minority religions that identify as ‘occult’ are deserving of SAPS scrutiny and possible persecution. This assertion can be evidenced in the mandate of investigation of the previous ORCU:

“…the Occult-related Crime Unit has to handle aspects such as:

·         Satanist manifestations, practices and observances.

·         Dangerous cults, sects/churches for the state of the community.

·         Witchcraft-related crime.

·         Supernatural happenings.

·         Secret organizations.

·         Deliverance through pastoral guidance.”

The above quote only proves the unconstitutionality of the previous ORCU. One would think that given the mistakes of the past, the resurrected ORCU would learn from them, forsake the title, ‘occult-related crime unit’, and focus on muthi murders, accusations of witchcraft and witch-purging? The stark reality is that the reinvented ORCU is picking up exactly where its forbearers left off, and the leaked memo stating the new ORCU mandate of investigation (which can be found here) only goes to prove it.

Warriors against Evil then goes to explain exactly who could be vulnerable to the sway of Satanism and the occult- the youth. Jonker is quoted as saying that children as young as eight are targeted by Satanists to join their ranks. And that the reason they are allegedly so successful at capturing the youth is that there is a loss of family structure in society. This in turn leads to confused youngsters who are cynical about the future and see no potential in it for them. Ultimately this is the reason why the youth rebel, and according to Jonker, this is what the occult thrives on this.

What is not mentioned is that rebellion is considered a normal part of teenage development, that ‘broken homes’ are actually nothing new and that any teenager who tries to go the ‘shock value’ route is looking for attention. Instead all the blame for this is laid at a lack of faith in Christianity by society and the sway of Satanism and the occult. But what follows is a look at the extent of Jonker’s occult fantasy:

“According to Sen Supt Jonker, Satanism automatically involves crime.”

And there we have Jonker’s true feelings about minority religions protected under the South African Constitution- if you are a Satanist (or identify your faith as being occult in nature as by Jonker’s logic occult=Satanism), you are automatically a criminal in dire need of persecution. What is even scarier is that the new ORCU was trained by Jonker and have in all likelyhood been indoctrinated into this tragic line of thought too.

“Specialists in the Occult-related Crime Unit deal with crimes committed by persons who believe in the occult and share in the manifestations, practices and observances linked to Satanism, which constitutes criminal acts.”

One has to ask the question if the majority of crimes committed in South Africa today are by people who identify as Christian, why is there no ‘Christian-related Crime Unit’? If the SAPS did, and do once again, believe that the religious beliefs of a criminal are worthy of investigation, why are there not units for the different religious beliefs in South Africa? The simple answer is it would be deemed unconstitutional and there would be mass public outcry… but singling out those of minority faiths seems to be of no concern to SAPS whatsoever, both in the past and the present.

What follows next is a small blurb by Adv DM Clarke of the then SAPS Head Office stating that all religions are protected under the constitution. A small trinket that we are supposed to buy as being ‘politically correct’, but as many know, actions speak louder than words; and Jonker and the actions of his ORCU have spoken volumes in the past and present.

And this paragraph in Warriors against Evil is finished off with, “Bedsides the fact that most atrocious crimes are committed in the exercise of Satanism…”. Further evidence of the exclusively Christian perspective held by Jonker and the ORCU- the mentality of ‘the devil made him do it’ as no man (or woman) would possibly commit a horrific crime due to psychological imbalances. Such a mentality belongs in the Middle Ages, not in modern day police work funded by tax payers.

The article then moves on to the Myth of Jonker; a truly fantastical tale of a man chosen by God almighty to thwart teenage Satanists who meditated to Judas Priest, even going against SAPS protocol and orders from his superiors to complete his ‘Divine work’. As with all things related to Jonker, I doubt its credibility and facts. Furthermore I do not wish to lend the Myth of Jonker anymore credence than it is due, which by my opinion happens to be zero.

 The final section of Warriors against Evil details who exactly should serve in the ORCU and what caliber of police investigator is required to carry out the work of this unit.

“SAPS members who want to serve in this Unit must acknowledge the supernatural world. They must strongly believe in Jesus Christ, because Satanism’s main enemy is Jesus Christ.”

Again the blatant prejudice of Jonker and the previous ORCU is evidenced. The members of the ORCU believed they were on a spiritual mission from God to persecute all and sundry they believed to be against their beliefs. The worst of it is they did this using the tax payers money and abused innocent members of the public under the guise of the law. The ORCU of the past was nothing more than a collection of self-important Christian fanatics running on an ego high and bullying communities that fell outside the mainstream. But I have to wonder, given that the current ORCU was trained by Jonker, whether we will see a repeat of history, and whether the current ORCU follows the same acceptance criteria, mandate and ‘logic’ as its predecessor.

First published on www.penton.co.za 25 Spetember 2012 http://www.penton.co.za/?p=2596