ISSN 2756-3456
Global Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 6 (2), pp. 001-011, February, 2017. © International Scholars Journals
Review
Influence, insecurities and evil: The political and economic context of witchcraft-related crime in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
Theodore Petrus
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 27 41 504 2232. Fax: 27 41 504 4276.
Accepted 26 November, 2016
Abstract
This article explores the political and economic context of witchcraft-related crime in South Africa, with specific reference to the Eastern Cape Province. The article examines how political and economic influence, and the factors that determine who has access to such influence, can impact on perceptions of ‘spiritual insecurity’ in African communities. Often such perceptions and insecurities are expressed in occult terms. The article argues that witchcraft-related crime is a manifestation of such expressions of political and economic insecurities, as it does not occur in a vacuum but can be located in a political and economic context. The arguments raised in the article are based on the author’s critical engagement with relevant literature, including his ethnographic study of witchcraft-related crime in the Eastern Cape.
Key words: Witchcraft-related crime, political and economic context, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.