Eswatini has banned a competition of “witchcraft and magic spellsâ€, AFP news agency reports quoting a government statement.
“Anyone who will persist with any activity related to witchcraft will face the full might of the law,†government spokesman Percy Simelane is quoted as saying.
People in the country, formerly known as Swaziland, could not be “exposed to illegal and weird practices,†he added.
The competition, that was supposed to see witchdoctors pit their skills against each other, was planned for the weekend, AFP says.
The Times of Swaziland quotes an elderly traditional healer, named as Africa Gama, as saying that the competition was organised by a man from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mr Gama, who claimed he was in charge of traditional healing in the country, said that he had taken part in a similar competition under King Sobhuza II, who died in 1982, the newspaper reports.
The king wanted to put an end to false claims by some healers, but it was right to ban this competition as it was not organised through the right channels, Mr Gama added.
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Source: BBC