A Pietermaritzburg family has been forced to vacate its home in Azalea township after it was invaded by snakes, the Witness reported on Wednesday.
The newspaper’s website quoted Bongekile Ndlela (42), a mother of five, as saying she first discovered the reptiles on Sunday inside her bedroom.
Since then she has killed five of them with the help of a neighbour.
Ndlela claimed there were many more — and bigger — snakes still lurking inside her home.
The Witness visited the house on Tuesday and found Ndlela and her youngest child sitting outside. They said the family was too scared to even go inside.
”We have vacated the house. We now sleep at our neighbours’ homes,” Ndlela said.
Ndlela, a Christian, said she believed the snakes were ”sent to her house by someone”.
Sazi Mhlongo, the president of the KwaZulu-Natal Traditional Healers’ Association, agreed with Ndlela.
He said dark-coloured snakes were regarded as a bad omen when found inside a house.
Mhlongo advised Ndlela to take the reptiles to a traditional healer ”to reverse the spell”. — Sapa