WATCH: Mum saddened by her sangoma son's death!

THE death of two sangomas leaves families with mixed emotions.

The families of two sangomas, Ntokozo Khumalo (22) and Owami Maphosa (18), who drowned in the Zonkezizwe River in Ekurhuleni, on Sunday, 27 October, are left shattered and traumatised.

The mourning families said they were expecting good things from their kids.

Ntokozo was doing a culinary course and was to graduate in December, while Owami was in high school, doing grade 11.

According to Ntokozo's mum, Khosi Khumalo, from Siluma View in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, when she heard news that her son had drowned, she was devastated and saddened.

"I was in De Deur, Vereeniging, when I heard that my son had drowned. I drove from there to the dam in Zonkezizwe, but when I arrived, I saw two lifeless bodies in body bags.

"What we heard is that my son was trying to save his sangoma friend who was drowning. Unfortunately, because of his good heart of always trying to help others, he drowned as well," Khosi said.

She added that someone was behind her son's death. However, she leaves everything to God.

"My son was a good person who accommodated everyone, he loved every single person he met. Ntokozo was a good cook, and I was happy when he enrolled at the culinary school. He also did his driving licence test recently and was waiting to go and collect his driving licence card."

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Khosi mentioned that she was expecting a lot of good things from her son. Ntokozo's gogo, Busisiwe Khumalo, said she was shattered by her grandchild's death. She described Ntokozo as gifted and followed in her footsteps by accepting ubungoma.

"He used to go to the river to perform the rituals before, but what happened on that fateful day has left us with so many questions. We learned that two chickens were sacrificed as part of the rituals, but what puzzles us is that my grandchild and one of the sangomas died during the rituals," said the gogo.

Owami's gogo, Hleziphi Maphosa (53) from Nhlapo Section Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, said the family couldn't cope since the loss of her grandchild.

"Owami wanted to heal people and become a gobela. He underwent the calling while he was doing grade 10 and never looked back.

"He was passionate about helping and healing people. He used to help his gobela with the cleansing ceremonies at the rivers and we don't know what happened," Hleziphi said.

The SunTeam also spoke to Gobela Motlalipula Motshena (59) from Nhlapo Section, who said she couldn't believe what had happened because she has been a sangoma for 37 years and this was the first time she encountered such a tragedy.

"The traditional ceremony was held in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni. It went well from Friday, 25 October and on Sunday, 27 October, we went to the river to perform the final rituals of the ceremony.

"We did all the rituals and also slaughtered two chickens before we went into the river," Motshena said.

She said Owami and other sangomas went back to take pictures near the river.

"Then suddenly, I heard people saying Owami had gone back in the river and was drowning and Ntokozo tried to save him. That's when the tragedy happened because both of them drowned," Motshena said.

The traumatised Gobela said she would like to send sincere condolences to both families who have lost their kids in such a tragic way.

Police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Majang Skalkie said an inquest case was opened at the Zonkezizwe Police Station and the matter is under investigation.