Satanic panic (South Africa)

The long-term focus in a South African context has not been on claims of child abuse by Satanic cults and the psychiatric community has not played a significant role, as was the case in other countries.

[5] While in the past Dunbar and other academics have associated the South African phenomenon with the white population group in particular, some more specifically with Calvinist Afrikaners,[4][6][17][18] the racial divide is disappearing.

[19][20] According to American sociologist Jeffrey Victor, Satanic cult stories arise as a response to widespread socioeconomic stresses, particularly those affecting parenting and family relationships.

[21] With reference to this quote, academic Nicky Falkof states in a South African context "alongside this, the figure of the Satanist provides an object for the displacement of anxiety and the concurrent cohesion of nationalistic sentiment.

[22][23][24] According to Nicky Falkof, the English and Afrikaans media have not differed materially in their treatment of the subject: "The paranoia, sensationalism or occasional scepticism with which stories were reported generally had more to do with the class or locality of the audience than with their language group.

[28] In 1974 South Africa's then Minister of Justice, Jimmy Kruger, reported widespread media coverage of a vast secret network of Satanists in the country was based on books published on the subject and not actual Satanic events.

[7][30][31] The SAPS Occult Related Crimes Unit was established in 1992 during the final years of apartheid by born-again Christian Kobus Jonker, prompted by former Minister of Law and Order Adriaan Vlok.

Included in the scope of occult-related crime are ritual muti/medicine murders, witch purging, witchcraft-related violence and sect-related practices that pose a threat to the safety and security of the Republic of South Africa and/or its inhabitants.

[4] Theodore Petrus, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, states the main focus of the unit is Satanism in his 2009 doctoral thesis on crime related to "witchcraft" in a traditional African context.

[35][36] Dale Wallace, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Religion Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, comments on this thinking in her 2006 doctoral thesis: The presence of this hysterical rhetoric in a modern police service in South Africa, even post-1994, mirrors similar occurrences in Britain and the USA and in various European countries in the 1980s.

A religious construction of crime pervaded law enforcement agencies, giving rise to the title of Cult Cops to those who cloaked criminal activity with fundamentalist Christian interpretation.

The DRC's pervasive influence means that the devil and devil-worshippers are still generally feared—to the extent that South Africa is still the only country in the world that has an Occult-Related Crime Unit (OCRU) in their police force.

While my informants report good relations with the police at present, many of them had experienced problems with them earlier when the difference between neopagan practices and devil worship had not yet become clear to the authorities.

However, the allegations of dark, diabolic practices in a privileged beachfront suburb caused a media frenzy, and by the time the misunderstanding was corrected, my informant had earned a reputation as the 'Camps Bay Satanist'.

[3][36][41] An article titled Breaking the Circle in a SERVAMUS Special Community Edition Drugs and Occult-Related Crime: The Facts, The Answers published in 2000 lists "Animosity towards Christianity, the church and Jesus Christ" as one of many warning signs of Satanic involvement.

[6][32][54][55] FH Havinga, a specialist reservist for the unit, is also a Christian pastoral counsellor and founder of the ASERAC centre for trauma victims of drug, occult, alcohol and sexual abuse in Kempton Park.

[59][63] Psychologist Gavin Ivey said the unit is "a waste of taxpayers' money",[6] and psychoanalyst Véronique Faure states: The only way the old guard can justify their place within the new SAPS is by mobilising around Christian values.

[77][78][79][80] South African Council of Churches chairperson Mautji Pataki commented "We are gravely concerned that evil spirits are driving innocent children to commit horrendous crimes.

[83] On the same day, the department published an official statement online about an "anti-Satanism strategy" for schools developed by the FBOs to address "harmful religious practices" related to the occult and Satanism.

[89] Creecy said a handbook had been compiled to help teachers and parents deal with Satanism which included signs to look out for and guidance in the event that a child is suspected of being involved in the occult.

[16][31][92] Following the receipt of several complaints by the South African Human Rights Commission,[93] the GDE advised there would no longer be a handbook for teachers and parents, only guidelines for department officials.

[95][96][97] Although the mainstream media in general sensationalised the Satanism aspect of these developments, one article by Elaine Swanepoel in The Citizen newspaper presented sceptical views of experts and religious leaders including Anglican bishops Peter Lee and Martin Breytenbach that dysfunctional behaviour and school violence could also be attributed to emotional and psychological problems, instability at home and superstition.

[15] In October 2013, the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga told residents of Mpumalanga to pray for their children to be "delivered from evil spirits" in response to a parent's statement about Satanism in the community.

Propagation of the Christian mythical version of Satanism serves to provide a role for rebellious teenagers and mentally confused individuals to act out in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[6][22][106] In his 1997 PhD thesis, Gavin Ivey addresses the phenomenon of pseudo-Satanism informed by cultural paranoia: The first group hardly justifies the satanic label, and these individuals are referred to in the literature as "dabblers" (Greaves, 1992; Tate, 1991).

American folklorist Bill Ellis associates this phenomenon with legend tripping youths: We can infer that such folk groups—not "cults"—are responsible for most of what police "experts" claim is evidence of "satanism."

[18][110][111] In 2008 head of the SAPS investigative psychology unit Gerard Labuschagne cautioned against emphasising so-called forces of evil in criminal cases: Whenever there is a murder, people jump to conclusions, and always God or Satan told the killers to do it ...

[30][111] Véronique Faure states: ... although despised by the academic community, Jonker enjoys the status of an expert in occult-related matters, and is highly respected and feared by those who need his services.

[115][116][117][118] An article by Khuthala Nandipha in the Mail & Guardian newspaper highlighted community ignorance about Satanism and likely contributory factors including social decay and inequality and the abuse of alcohol and drugs such as nyaope.

"[47] In her 2012 MA thesis, Danielle Dunbar comments on the lack of academic interest in the subject: A small number of alarmist texts have been penned by South Africans in what is termed 'anti-satanist' literature: a voluminous but narrow corpus of work that warns against the dangers of Satanism and the 'satanic influences' of popular youth culture.