About sixteen years ago Coetzee Zietsman, one of the cameramen of the series, “What does God think of us?”on SABC2, produced a similar program for SABC TV. It was probably one of the most shocking programs ever to hit the TV airwaves in South Africa. It showed in graphical detail how South African sangomas (witchdoctors) are initiated into the occult practice of communicating with their dead ancestors. One of the methods used to appease the ancestral spirits and to determine whether they approve of the candidates who have been chosen to become sangomas is the following:

The candidate is told to lie on the ground, usually on her left side opposite a goat which is lain down in a similar position on its right side. Both are covered with a single animal skin that serves as a blanket. The focal point in the ceremony is the goat because it allegedly functions as a medium through which the ancestral spirits communicate their wishes. The candidate must then simulate sex with the goat. If the goat reacts in a positive way, so to speak, it is a sign that the ancestors are pleased with the candidate and that she may proceed to the next part of the ceremony. The goat’s jugular vein is then slit and while a gush of blood spurts out freely the candidate puts her mouth to the gaping wound and starts to drink the blood. Sometimes the blood is caught up in a beaker for her to drink.