ABSTRACT

The person most concerned in an allegation of wizardry is the person accused of being a wizard. In the court cases people indicated as being wizards frequently denied the charge. By 'non-violent' consequences the author means divorce, ostracism and the general hostility of the community. Clearly the number of cases examined is too small to regard the figures given as entirely reliable; but two points would appear to emerge. Firstly, that in only a comparatively small number of the court cases no diviner was involved. It may be assumed that in Shona and Ndebele society far more allegations of wizardry arise spontaneously without the intervention of a diviner, than with. Second, is the large number of Ndebele divinations, as compared with those of the Shona, which resulted in violence. Where a wizard is killed, it is purely a matter of private vengeance or done from a desire to remove a source of danger.