A martyr ahead of his time

In October the Vatican will examine the sainthood cause for Benedict Daswa, the Limpopo man who many consider to be a martyr.

STUART GRAHAM travelled to the area of Benedict’s life and spoke to people associated with the man and his cause.

In the first of three articles to be published over the next weeks, he recalls Benedict’s life and speaks to a close friend.

The jagged rocks piled up as a makeshift memorial beside the road to Thohoyandou in Limpopo province are an ominous reminder that little has changed in the area where Benedict Daswa was stoned and beaten to death after he stood up against a witchhunt nearly 25 years ago.

It was late in the day on Friday, February 2, 1990  the day President FW de Klerk unbanned the liberation movements and Benedict was driving home in his bakkie from taking his sister-in-law and her sick child to the doctor when he saw the branch of a fig tree blocking his path on the road.

Little did he know that on either side of the bushes there were people fully armed with stones, knobkierries and what have you, Benedict’s close friend Chris Mphaphuli says as he examines the rocks and points out the fig tree, which is still standing, across the road. He opened the door, ran for his life, but they were stoning him, Mr Mphaphuli recalls in an interview with The Southern Cross.

Benedict, a member of the Lemba tribe which has links to Judaism, grew up observing Jewish customs. He converted to Catholicism at the age of 17, and was confirmed by Benedictine Abbot Bishop Clemens van Hoek at Sibasa in 1963.

His ID book gave his name as Tshimangadzo Samuel Daswa, but he became known by his confirmation name, Benedict, chosen after the sixth-century saint who founded the Benedictine order and in tribute to Fr Benedict Risimati, the catechist who had instructed him and others under a fig tree.

He was known in his community as a hard worker and a man who could get things done. He built a school, bought a bakkie and used it to transport rocks from the river to build a church. He was a catechist in his community, and professionally was the principal of the local primary school.

He grew vegetables and fruit for his community, making sure the poor were fed, and he started a football team.

A family man with eight children, he was known for breaking with Venda tradition and helping his wife with the household chores. Mr Mphaphuli chuckles at Benedict’s propensity to take on the tasks generally performed by women.

You would see Benedict washing the nappies of his babies, says Mr Mphaphuli. This is not something you see in this area. Men have their tasks and women have theirs. But for Benedict there was none of that. He was ahead of his time.

Mr Mphaphuli added: Some people said he was bewitched because it was so unusual for a man to do these things.

Benedict’s break with Venda traditions was greeted with disdain by some fellow villagers and made him few friends, but it was his outspokenness against age-old superstitions that brought out his enemies. He had first earned the mistrust of some of his fellow villagers when he refused to let his football team wear trinkets that supposedly would bring them luck in an important game.

Their dislike for Benedict came to a head in January 1990 after the rains had failed to come and then a series of unseasonal lightning strikes hit the area, one of them causing three huts to burn down in Mbahe village.

The village elders called a meeting and concluded that a witch was responsible. Each member of the meeting was asked to contribute R5 to a fund that would be used to consult a witchdoctor. Benedict refused to take part, explaining that lightning was a natural phenomenon, not the work of witches.

He reasoned that the use of a traditional healer constituted witchcraft and therefore was in conflict with his Catholic faith. With that he refused to participate or pay the R5 fee.

A week later the mob attacked, having stopped Benedict’s bakkie with that branch of the fig tree. He was assaulted but managed to run away.

He took the shortcut to a nearby shebeen, says Mr Mphaphuli. We think he wanted to get help. When he arrived there, some people were drinking beer. He did not talk much, because he was bleeding and he wanted to hide. He went straight through the passage to the four-roomed house, [but] then the owner of the house stopped him from doing so. He came back and he found a rondavel. The door was open. He went straight there and closed the door.

When he heard the mob threatening the owner he came outside. The mob trapped Benedict. As a man approached with a raised knobkerrie to deliver the fatal blow, Benedict prayed: God, into your hands, receive my spirit.

His killers were never brought to justice.

Benedict’s funeral Mass was concelebrated by several priests, with Fr John Finn MSC, parish priest of Thohoyandou/Sibasa, as the main celebrant. All clergy wore red vestments in acknowledgment of their belief that Benedict had died a martyr’s death for his faith.

The irony that Benedict was killed on the very day that President de Klerk announced his intention to release Nelson Mandela has not escaped attention.

The comparisons between Benedict and Mr Mandela come easily.

Both were compassionate, altruistic, hard workers and believed in education. At the same time, the two were also different.

Daswa was not a politician, says Mr Mphaphuli. He loved his community. He wanted to make a difference in a small way.

The diocese of Tzaneen opened an inquiry into Benedict’s death in 2005 and completed it in 2009. The investigation resulted in more than 850 pages of testimony from reliable witnesses to his life and death. In October the Vatican’s Congregation for Sainthood Causes will examine the cause of Benedict Daswa. If the cause is accepted, it will be sent to Pope Francis, who may then decide to approve what would be South Africa’s first beatification.

Next week Stuart Graham speaks to Benedict Daswa’s family. On September 25 a group of Southern Cross pilgrims, led by Bishop Joao Rodrigues of Tzaneen, will leave on a pilgrimage of prayer for Benedict’s cause to Fatima, Avila, Zaragoza, Lourdes, Paris and other places associated with Our Lady.