South Africa's Occult Crimes Unit: How Apartheid shaped South African attitudes toward Paganism and the Occult

Abstract

Near the end of Apartheid in South Africa, specifically the decade between the1980's to the mid 1990's, white citizens were gripped by a collective moral panic. It emerged from a perceived evil threat allegedly posed by Satanism and the Occult and taking the form of wealthy, blood thirsty and well-organised global hierarchies and/or cults, whose main objective was to control and corrupt white civilisation and overthrow Christianity at any cost (Falkof 2019a:133-134). The South African Police Force's (SAP) Occult-Related Crimes Unit (ORCU) was founded in 1992 and dedicated itself to the pursuit of what it perceived to be 'occult-related crimes' in South Africa. ORCU was founded and headed up by Kobus-also nicknamed 'Donker' and 'The Hound of God' Jonker-and endorsed by the then Minister of Law and Order, Adriaan Vlok (Dunbar 2012:109). Christianity and belief in Jesus Christ were prerequisites to serve in the unit, which stated that "Satanism's main enemy is Jesus Christ" (Servamus 2000). This paper will discuss the origins, formation and legacy of the SAP ORCU and its impact on contemporary South Africa's religious landscape. It will also explore how this apartheid legacy marginalised individuals identifying with the Occult and Paganism in South Africa.

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Reimagining contemporary Africa: Circulations of objects, knowledges & spiritual practices (24 & 25 January 2024),
Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of the Western Cape (UWC); École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), PSL;
Institut des Mondes Africains (IMAF) & L’institut Français D’Afrique du Sud (IFAS), Recherche.
1
South Africa’s Occult Crimes Unit: How Apartheid
shaped South African attitudes toward Paganism
and the Occult
Tristán Kapp
*PhD Candidate & Research Associate, Department Religion Studies, Faculty of
Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria
u16079818@tuks.co.za
ABSTRACT
Near the end of Apartheid in South Africa, specifically the decade between the1980’s to the
mid 1990’s, white citizens were gripped by a collective moral panic. It emerged from a
perceived evil threat allegedly posed by Satanism and the Occult and taking the form of
wealthy, blood thirsty and well-organised global hierarchies and/or cults, whose main
objective was to control and corrupt white civilisation and overthrow Christianity at any cost
(Falkof 2019a:133-134). The South African Police Force’s (SAP) Occult-Related Crimes
Unit (ORCU) was founded in 1992 and dedicated itself to the pursuit of what it perceived to
be ‘occult-related crimes’ in South Africa. ORCU was founded and headed up by Kobus –
also nicknamed ‘Donker’ and ‘The Hound of God’ Jonker – and endorsed by the then
Minister of Law and Order, Adriaan Vlok (Dunbar 2012:109). Christianity and belief in Jesus
Christ were prerequisites to serve in the unit, which stated that “Satanism’s main enemy is
Jesus Christ” (Servamus 2000). This paper will discuss the origins, formation and legacy of
the SAP ORCU and its impact on contemporary South Africa’s religious landscape. It will
also explore how this apartheid legacy marginalised individuals identifying with the Occult
and Paganism in South Africa.
KEYWORDS
Satanic panic; Occult; Satanism; Satanic cults; South Africa; Occult-Related Crimes Unit;
Kobus Jonker; apartheid; Christianity; South African Police Service

Reimagining contemporary Africa: Circulations of objects, knowledges & spiritual practices (24 & 25 January 2024),
Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of the Western Cape (UWC); École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), PSL;
Institut des Mondes Africains (IMAF) & L’institut Français D’Afrique du Sud (IFAS), Recherche.
2
INTRODUCTION
Near the end of Apartheid in South Africa, specifically the decade between the1980’s to the
mid 1990’s, white citizens were gripped by a collective moral panic. It emerged from a
perceived evil threat, allegedly posed by Satanism and the Occult, and taking the form of
wealthy, blood thirsty and well-organised global hierarchies and/or cults, whose main
objective was to control and corrupt white civilisation and overthrow Christianity at any cost
(Falkof 2019a:133-134). The South African Police Force’s (SAP) Occult-Related Crimes
Unit (ORCU) was founded in 1992 and dedicated itself to the pursuit of what it perceived as
‘occult-related crimes’ in South Africa. ORCU was founded and headed up by Kobus – also
nicknamed ‘Donker’ and ‘The Hound of God’ Jonker – and endorsed by the then Minister of
Law and Order, Adriaan Vlok (Dunbar 2012:109). Christianity and faith in Jesus Christ were
prerequisites to serve in the unit, which stated that “Satanism’s main enemy is Jesus Christ”
(Servamus 2000). This paper will discuss the origins, formation and legacy of the SAP
Occult-Related Crimes Unit and its impact on contemporary South Africa’s religious
landscape. It will also explore how this apartheid legacy marginalised individuals identifying
with the Occult and Paganism in South Africa.
FROM APARTHEID TO DEMOCRACY: POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY AND AFRIKANER
CONSERVATISM
After apartheid ended in 1990, political uncertainty, change and unrest were the order of the
day and “Satan made a bid for the control of white Afrikaners in South Africa.” (Dunbar &
Swart 2012:602). Paranoia of moral alarmists was at an all-time high, claiming that the
“children of Lucifer” [sic] were on the prowl, hunting for the next victim to suck into their
ranks, or the next virgin to sacrifice on a sacrificial altar (Dunbar 2012:210-121 cf. Dunbar &
Swart 2012:602). The Devil also appeared to be very fond of white children. He wanted
their souls and their flesh; he wanted to kidnap, pervert, corrupt, and then consume them
(Dunbar & Swart 2013:601-602). And following the death of the apartheid regime, the
National Party collapsed by majority vote during South Africa’s first democratic election. The
period that followed 1994, saw the Afrikaner nation lose its sense of identity, as South
Africa’s legislation had been broadened to facilitate economic and political participation on a
global stage. Whilst simultaneously repairing a country broken by racial segregation. The
Afrikaner, as a result, had little choice but to adapt to this new legislation which guaranteed

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total religious and other human freedoms (see SA Constitution 1996 cf. Verwey & Quayle
2012:553-556). Teppo (2009) argued that, “…South African Whites are well-known for their
religious conservatism, tending towards right-wing fundamentalism, which leaves little room
for other faiths…” (see Teppo 2009:19-20 cf. Chidester 1992:216).
In addition to this, Falkof (2012) proposes that this zeitgeist was largely the by-product of
the rising popularity of evangelical Christianity (particularly among white youth); the
increasing prevalence of Afrikaner extremism and other far-right socio-political tendencies –
remnants of apartheid culture (Falkof 2012:1-2). Moreover, at the heart of such staunch
conservatism was the Calvinist, Afrikaner-run Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) which helped
justify legislation, Biblically, for the racial segregation of apartheid. While remaining a
prominent stronghold of apartheid Afrikaner conservatism (Falkof 2019a:134 cf. Kapp
2020:13-16). Subsequently, as a result of the DRC's pervasive influence within the
apartheid regime, “the devil” and (perceived) “devil-worshippers” (sic) were feared to such
an extent that South Africa became the only country in the world to create a specialised
task force in their police force, to investigate alleged Occult-related crime (Teppo 2009:19-
27).
THE GLOBAL “SATANIC PANIC” BACKDROP AND THE END OF WHITE
PRIVILEGE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Together with the de facto socio-politically uncertain zeitgeist, white fragility from late- to
post-apartheid South Africa, collectively gave birth to what is infamously known as the
“Satanic panic”, today. It is therefore worth mentioning; in this particular case, that
elsewhere in the world – a few decades prior in 1969 – founder of modern Satanism, and
leader of the Church of Satan in the United States of America, coined the popular phrase:
“Satan has been the best friend the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all
these years” (LaVey 1969:33 cf. Dyrendal, Petersen & Lewis 2016:72-74). This aphorism
was, and remains a poignant indictment against evangelical Christianity’s (nigh global)
moral crusade against Satan (and invariably the Occult). On a global scale, the Satanic
panic – in general – manifested as a widespread fear, not dissimilar to xenophobia.
Occurring in countries across Europe and the U.S.A, between the 1980s and 1990s (see
Kroesbergen-Kamps 2020 cf. Falkof 2019a:133). However, to clarify, the Satanic Panic in
South Africa was not merely a “meaningless blip on the cultural horizon”, paling in

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comparison to the socio-political discord of apartheid’s legacy (Falkof 2019a:133). Neither
was it some foreign import from the West. Instead, it uniquely differed from contemporary
moral panics in, for example, the United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK)
and Australia where the phenomenon began (cf. Lanning 1992:21-27; Victor 1992:248-252;
Waterhouse 2014:28-32, & Kapp 2022b:2-3).
SATAN SPEAKS AFRIKAANS: APARTHEID’S FOLK SPIRIT, SOCIAL ILLS AND FOLK
DEVILS
Falkof (2019a) highlights that the “Satanism scare” in South Africa, was unique in the sense
that it was the response of whiteness to the collapse of white privilege. Coupled with
longstanding Cold War paranoias of communism, and the solipsistic, self-referential
insistence of the whiteness of Satanists. These were but a few ways for white South
Africans to turn away from black Africans as the latter remained a centrifugal (perceived)
threat to white identity, within a frame of whiteness (Falkof 2019a:133-134). Falkof
maintains that rumours of dangerous Satanic cults, being blamed for South Africa’s social
ills, were one of many driving forces behind the Afrikaner volksgees “folk spirit”, employed
to justify apartheid’s separatist legislation (Falkof 2019a:133-135).
Another unique distinguishing factor of the South African Satanic Panic, was its ‘shape’ per
se. Unlike the Satanic Panic in the USA and Australia, it did not focus very much on the
idea of child ritual abuse by Satanic cults (see Smith & Padzer 1980 cf. Gardiner &
Gardiner 1990). Rather, it helped to distract (white) people from the true fear: the perceived
threat posed to white complacency in South Africa, by African nationalism. And the
preconceived disastrous consequences following black rule. Furthermore, it also formed
part of a series of continuous conflicts present inside the white electorate, whilst
simultaneously being employed as a vehicle for collective (Afrikaner) identity formation.
Whilst producing “a [novel] folk devil”, acting as the convenient scapegoat for social and
political instability in the country (Falkof 2019a:134).
OCCULT CRIME AND PSYCHIATRY: HOMOSEXUALITY, DRUGS AND CHRISTIAN
FUNDAMENTALISM
It is also noteworthy that South African professionals (especially within psychiatry) had not
featured prominently (Ivey 1993:180-185) throughout the furore about the panic. In his PhD

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thesis, titled The Psychology of Satanic Cult Involvement: An Archetypal Object Relations
Perspective. South African psychologist, Dr. Gavin Ivey (1997) regarded that the lack of
clinical involvement, was owing to the Satanic Panic initially being understood (by
clinicians), as a mixture between an increase in Christian fundamentalism. Along with the
accompaniment of a perceived Satanic threat; constructed in response to what was
understood as the ‘Occult revival’ in Europe and North America (Ivey 1997:31-32 cf. Falkof
2010:5-6; see Bowen 2015:52-53).
In noting the absent role of psychiatric diagnoses: criminal cases of alleged Satanism in
South Africa, were repeatedly and explicitly denied by professionals, when coverage of said
phenomena was aired (Ivey 1997:32). Falkof (2019b) echoes Ivey (1997) in this notion,
furthering that the idea of the Satanic panic was exclusively driven by religious fanatics (as
opposed to psychiatrists and social workers). And so, the affected individuals: among whom
were homosexuals, the sexually promiscuous, and drug addicts (cf. Staples 1993:116-119)
were sent to be exorcised (Falkof 2019b:278-279). In an earlier publication, Falkof (2012)
also remarked that these ‘Satanic scares’ were in actual fact, “…an exemplary tale of whites
as victims, rather than as perpetrators of the social and psychic evil of Satanism…” (see
Falkof 2012:3 cf. Falkof 2019a:134).
Dunbar (2012) adds to this in stating that it was also alleged that Satanists were
responsible for township violence; supplying ‘black witchdoctors’ with firearms in exchange
for babies, along with human organs needed for their sacrifices (Dunbar 2012:119-120).
Furthermore, the South African ‘version’ of the Satanic Panic was thus mainly characterised
by scapegoating Satanism and the Occult for crime and criminality (see van den Heever
2023:2-5). Using warped considerations of societal issues to obtain a ‘foot in the door’ for
Christian evangelism (see Gardiner & Gardiner 1990:14-20) as a means to protect
conservative white Afrikaner identity.
“SATAN HUNTERS” IN THE POLICE: PSEUDOSCIENCE AND
AFRIKANER RELIGIOUS CONSPIRACIES
The late-apartheid origins of the so-called Satanic Panic in South Africa, lay in the founding
of the SAP’s Occult-Related Crimes Unit (ORCU), in 1992. The ORCU dedicated itself to
the pursuit of “Occult-related” and “Satanic crimes”, in South Africa. The organisation was
spearheaded by Colonel Kobus – nicknamed (among other things) ‘Donker’ and ‘The

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Hound of God’ – Jonker. Kobus Jonker was infamously known as one of a number of ‘Satan
hunters’, who operated between 1989 and 1993 (Dunbar & Swart 2012:617-618 cf. Dunbar
2012:64). He was also already well-known as South Africa’s (self-)publicised ‘cult cop’ (see
Jonker 1990; 1992 cf. Jonker & Els 2000), long before even finding and heading up the
official police unit (Dunbar 2012:64-65; Wallace 2006:123-126).
EXORCISM IN THE NAME OF THE LAW? THE SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE’S
“FIGHT AGAINST SATAN HIMSELF”
While ORCU initially focused on investigation of ‘Satanism-related murders’, it later
broadened its scope to include paganism, witchcraft, and the alleged muti-related murders
(Petrus 2018:172). Falkof (2019a) adds to Petrus (2018) in regarding that Jonker was thé
catalyst behind the Satanic Panic movement in South Africa (Falkof 2019a:139). As
mentioned elsewhere, Jonker claimed to have been a “reborn” evangelical Christian, and
believed Christianity as a requirement for fighting Satanism: in a Newspaper interview,
Jonker claimed that, “…one had to be strong in [the] faith to serve in the occult unit…” -
Furthermore, Jonker also remarked on numerous occasions that, “only exorcism could save
those who had been affected [by the Occult/Satanism]” (see Duguid 2004). He even went
so far as ‘joining forces’ with a prominent evangelical pastor, Neville Goldman, who
(allegedly) specialised in exorcisms and claimed to have “once been a Satanist” himself
(Eastern Province Herald, 20 April, 1990; Falkof 2019a:139-140).
Upon delving deeper into the problematic history of Jonker’s police unit. One can still
access the formerly official (now archived) website of the South African Police Service’s
Occult-Related Crimes Unit (ORCU). Comprising of lists of bulleted pseudo-scientific claims
in identifying what it calls, “warning signs of possible occult-related discourse [in children]”.
Examples of which are: 1) “Phone calls…requesting to speak with someone other than your
child’s name…enquiring for your child using his/her satanic/demonic name.”, 2) “[Child]
experiences sudden gender confusion”, 3) “depression”, 4) “pale make-up and or dyes hair
black”, 5) “uses satanic alphabet in his/her books”, 6) “views a disproportionate number of
videotapes/DVDs of horror movies/ heavy metal music”, 7) “plays/love[s] fantasy games”, 8)
“greets with a left-hand horn signal”, 9) “wears only silver jewellery – not gold jewellery, as
gold is considered a Christian metal.” [sic.] and so on… (SAPS 2006).

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These and many other incredulous claims, comprising of “rejection of parental values” (see
Maftei, et al. 2020:167-168), along with “draping hair across [the] left eye” (SAPS 2006).
Motepe (2006) advocated the normality these things, which generally are considered to be
things that children do as they develop (while also not being Satanists); growing into the
fullness of their own identity (Motepe, 2006:187-188 cf. Ganiron, et al. 2017:160-161).
These and many more normative occurrences since early childhood and adolescent
development, were the epicentre of the quasi-Satanism rhetoric present within the Occult-
Related Crimes Unit of the South African Police Service. Collectively comprising
phenomena which are to be immediately considered “Satanic warning sings” [sic.] (SAPS
2006 cf. Kemp 2014). When, in actual fact, they could be narrowed down to personal
preferences, mental health struggles, or just plain personality quirks. Thus, the Occult-
Related Crimes Unit was no more than a medieval-esque witch hunt (see Kemp 2014);
dedicated to the combatting of an invisible adversary, resembling everything contrary to the
pipe dream of a conservative Afrikaner Calvinist, whites only, utopia.
OCCULT CRIME: A PROBLEM OF PROPOGANDA AND MODERN WITCH HUNTS
Supporting these notions, were influential and prominent critics of the unit who believed that
the ORCU was “...a waste of taxpayers’ money” as was argued by Dr. Gavin Ivey (du
Venage 2005). Furthermore, Véronique Faure (2006) echoes this idea in stating, “the only
way the old guard can justify their place within the new SAPS, is by mobilising around
Christian values. They hope to convince both the public and the government of the validity
of their sacred mission and thereby gather funding for further investigations and campaigns
of moral education…” (Faure 2006:153-181). Similar strong criticisms came from Prof.
Jacques Rousseau (2013) from the University of Cape Town (UCT) who aids the
perspectives of Faure (2006) in maintaining, “…the Occult-Related Crime Unit…continues
to waste public resources, misdirect police attention, and stigmatise young people who are
by and large more misunderstood than malignant” (Rousseau 2013). Even the South
African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) voiced their criticism by arguing, “religiously
motivated prejudice demonstrated towards minority religions by Christian evangelists…and
the inappropriate allocation of police resources to the investigation of alleged paranormal
phenomena which cannot be proven in court” (SAPRA 2012).

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In 2000 Colonel Jonker retired as commander-in-chief of ORCU, following a severe heart
attack. And it was initially believed that the South African Police Service (SAPS) had
disbanded Jonker’s unit; that it no longer had the resources to perform their frequently
lauded “witch hunts” (Kemp 2014). The SAPS had also removed the ORCU website in
2006, following outrage from several pagan and alternative religious groups in South Africa
(Kemp 2014). Jonker was succeeded by Brigadier Attie Lamprecht as head of ORCU in
2000, who cooperated with other prominent (evangelical Christian) members in the unit.
Namely, James Lottering of Warfare Ministries in the Eastern Cape, and FH Havinga,
former specialist reservist and founder of ASERAC (CareSA) Centre for Trauma Victims of
Drug, Occult, Alcohol and Sexual Abuse in Kempton Park, Johannesburg (among others).
Lamprecht first announced in 2006 that “…the Occult Unit had been officially disbanded
and reabsorbed into other departments within the Detective Services of the SAPS, as a
result of a potential infringement of the right to freedom of religion, guaranteed by South
Africa's famously progressive 1996 post-Apartheid constitution” (Kemp 2014).
SERVAMUS: THE SAPS OCCULT-RELATED CRIMES UNIT AND ITS
PROPOGANDA MOUTHPIECE
However, according to Kempen (2017), in a 2015 Servamus magazine interview, Lamprecht
stated, at the SAPS 3rd Forensic Service Conference, that ORCU was never disbanded.
Instead, it had “refined its praxis by no longer solely focusing on typical satanic incidents,
but also muti-murders” and the alleged drug abuse that often accompanies said incidents
(cf. Kempen 2017:2 & Makgale 2015). Yet, even though ORCU can be viewed as the “most
durable relic of the satanic panic” (Dunbar 2012:123) in South Africa, the unit had to combat
both waning public interest and statistics. Out of the 18 312 murders recorded in South
Africa during 1994, only four qualified as being Occult-related. Moreover, at the height of its
operations between 1992 and 1998, the unit effectively only made 240 arrests (Dunbar
2012:123-124 cf. Coan 1997).
An important cog in the ORCU-machine, was the important propagandistic role that
community safety magazine, Servamus, played in the construction of the South African
Satanic Panic myth. This is evident from previous published articles, such as Warriors
Against Evil (Faure 2006:162 cf. Servamus 1998) – specifically, for example, Madaleen
Fourie’s Drugs and Occult-Related Crime: The Facts, The Answers (2000), which was still

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sold and distributed by May 2013 (News24, 4 March 2014 cf. Wallace 2015:43-44) and
remains as such to date (see Servamus 2024). Another example is, God's Detective: Left
But Not Lost which praises Jonker; regurgitating Satanic panic rhetoric, echoed by
members of ORCU (see Leff 2014:48, Leff, et al. 2008:35 cf. Servamus 2001). As well as
Kempen (2017) Harmful occult-related practices - the importance of having specialised
detectives to investigate such cases (Kempen 2017). Another special edition of Servamus
(1998) Warriors Against Evil stated: “SAPS members who want to serve in this Unit must
acknowledge the supernatural world. They must strongly believe in Jesus Christ, because
Satanism's main enemy is Jesus Christ. It is not just a job, it's a lifelong mission, involving
the body, soul, and spirit…” (see News24, 4 March 2014).
According to Camaroff & Camaroff (2016), Servamus was indeed infamous for publishing
Satanic panic propaganda articles, therefore appearing to still serve as ORCU’s unofficial
mouthpiece, peddling conspiracy theoretical and fabricacious superstitions about alleged
Occult, Pagan, and Satanic-related crimes (Leff 2014:47-48; Comaroff & Comaroff
2016:269-270 cf. Kempen 2017). Servamus in and of itself, proves that Jonker’s Satanic
panic moral crusade had been kept alive to this day. A further example attesting to this,
would be a leaked internal memorandum of the SAPS in 2012, announcing the
“resurrection” of ORCU: only this time, ORCU was rebranded as the SAPS Harmful
Religious Practices Unit (see Kemp 2014). With its official memorandum stating, “For a
crime to be considered a harmful occult-related crime, the elements of legality in terms of a
conduct’s unlawfulness as well as culpability, have to be present and the motive must be
rooted in the supernatural” [sic.] (SAPRA 2012).
A TYPOLOGY FOR OCCULT CRIME: POST HOC FALLACIES, MENS DAEMONICA AS
JONKER’S ORCU LEGACY
This raises several concerns about whether ORCU was actually disbanded (out of concern
for human rights), or merely moved its operations underground as was confirmed by
Brigadier Attie Lamprecht in another interview, in 2021 (see Scholtz 2023:64-69), following
his public statements in 2006 and 2015. This highlights the fact that prejudiced treatment
of- and fanatical obsession with the Occult, as scapegoat for social ills, had not
disappeared in South Africa. And if there was any doubt before, this notion becomes
increasingly evident in criminal cases like: 1) Samurai Murderer (Engelbrecht, 2019); 2)

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Annika Smit-murder (Maketha, 2016) & 3) Krugersdorp “Devilsdorp” Murders (Smith, 2021),
or 4) the Klawer murderer (Kapp 2022a) where popular opinion still veers toward Occult
involvement (cf. van den Heever 2023:4-10). Additionally, the sensationalist anecdotes of
popular Christian author and so-called “Occult expert”, Adele Neveling (Vrey): author of
Bloedoffer “Sacrifice”, and Die Kreet van die Bloedbevlekte “The creed of the Bloodstained”
(Bradbury 2018 cf. Engela 2021:20-23). Or the anti-science rhetoric of (former) Chief
Justice of South Africa Mogoeng Mogoeng, “If there be any (Covid-19) vaccine that is the
work of the devil meant to infuse 666 in the lives of the people, meant to corrupt their
DNA...may it be destroyed by fire” (Senokoane 2021:1-2), perpetuating myths.
Furthermore, in an attempt to suggest a framework for a paradigm or typology of Occult vis-
á-vis crime, there is very little (if any) scholarly consensus throughout scientific literature on
the topic (see Jipson 2005:1054-1056; Petrus 2008:141-146; Roelofse 2014:11-14; Petrus,
et al. 2018:170-179). Moreover, there are those like Scholtz (2023) who inadvertently fall
into the popular bias, pertaining to assuming a correlation between a phenomenon such as
the Occult and crime (Scholtz 2023:77-78). Scholtz, in example, relies heavily on anecdotal
interviews with Brigadier Attie Lamprecht of the ORCU (see Scholtz 2023:1-4). Aided by
biased, outdated, and oft irrelevant or unreliable material (see Olson-Raymer 1998-1990;
Steven 2013:xx; Harvey 2014; Lamprecht 2021, et al.); collectively presenting misinformed
notions of the Occult, Paganism, and Satanism in South Africa, as cumulative to
supernatural crime and “evil” phenomena (cf. Scholtz 2023:16-19). The problem with such
an assumptive position, in terms of the “supernatural” or belief in the supernatural as it
pertains to crime: is that it is often considered an appeal to phenomena which operate
beyond the laws of nature (Leff 2014:47 cf. Leff n.d.:13-20).
Alternatively, scientific theories such as Tratner, et al. (2020) considers the idea of the
“supernatural” as the detection of agents when, realistically, none are present (Tratner, et al.
2020:119). Van Eyghen (2018) approached this concept, contra to the definitions of the
supernatural connected to inter alia “god-beliefs”; popularly referring to that of the
Abrahamic-faiths. Instead, he opts for a more inclusive definition “supernatural beliefs”,
accommodating non-Abrahamic traditions, considering it the belief in the existence of
supernatural beings (Van Eyghen 2018:1-3). Alternatively, and perhaps more appropriately
Le Rossignol, Lowes, and Nunn (2022) argue that supernatural beliefs in sub-Saharan
Africa often involves moralising deities, ancestral spirits, or magical beliefs, and are

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generally understood as being synonymous with “witchcraft” (Le Rossignol, et al. 2022:1-2).
Le Rossignol, et al. also add that witchcraft beliefs in South Africa are generally presented
by those with lacking trust, economically dire situations, as well as harbouring experience of
adverse shocks (Le Rossignol, et al. 2022:2).
However, out of all the aforementioned considerations of the supernatural, there are none
that provide substantial consensus, in attesting the probability of the external supernatural
involved in crime. Scholtz (2022) attempts to define Occult crime as, “…either Western,
traditional, or hybrid systems, and is conflated with elements of not only socio-political
factors, but also culture, tradition, and spirituality.” Such a definition is unhelpful, and
therefore begs the question of validity and admissibility in a South African criminal case,
especially when it comes to criminal liability and the law of evidence (see Grobler 2014:18-
22 cf. Collier 2013:13-15). In contrast, Rupcic (2021) better narrows down a definition for
alleged Occult crime. Proposing the theorem of mens daemonica or “demonic mind” (cf.
mens rea), as “the capacity or potential to commit an offence; assuming an intentional
action that extends outside the boundaries of the physical body, implicating a vast and
ultimately unknowable range of others and objects in a single act of harmful conduct”
(Rupcic 2021:1-4).
When comparing Scholtz (2023) and Rupcic (2021) there is no denying that elements of
Occulture (Partridge 2013:116-117) can – and have been possibly employed for crime and
criminality (see Dilley, et al. 2017:3-9 cf. Masoga 2018:5-8; Yew-Siong & Ally 2022:2-3).
Rather, the argument that this paper wishes to present. Is that the preconceived notion that
the Occult vis-á-vis Paganism and Satanism are inherently connected to: malevolence,
violence, and invariably crime (i.e. guilty by association), is a logically fallacious post hoc
conspiracy theory; remnant of the late apartheid Satanic Panic scare. Worsened by the
damaging legacy of Kobus Jonker et alia of the Occult-Related Crimes Unit, collectively
rooted in a moral panic, and premised upon Afrikaner Calvinist white victimhood, in the face
of ever-increasing religious, cultural, and social diversity in South Africa (see Falkof 2023:1-
9).
CONCLUSION
It is incontrovertible that the idea of a “Satanic panic” lingers on in the minds of
contemporary South Africans. As Occult- and invariably Pagan, as well as Satanism

Reimagining contemporary Africa: Circulations of objects, knowledges & spiritual practices (24 & 25 January 2024),
Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of the Western Cape (UWC); École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), PSL;
Institut des Mondes Africains (IMAF) & L’institut Français D’Afrique du Sud (IFAS), Recherche.
12
practitioners, are still met with intolerance and malice due to their chosen values
representing inherent “evil;” when in fact, they are religions protected under the South
African constitution (see Masoga 2018:8 cf. SA Constitution 1996:7-8, 13). Few, however,
are brave enough to publicly account for this aside from organisations like the South African
Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA), who combat inter alia harmful legislation and policies
involving the Occult and Paganism (see Witchcraft Suppression Act 3 of 1957 cf. SAPRA
2022). However, Occult practitioners still remain a fringe minority in a Christian
hegemonised South Africa (Mokoena 2021:3 cf. Kotzé & Loubser 2017:2-10), facing public
discrimination and demonisation on a daily basis (see Coetzer 2020 cf. Coombes &
Skoulding 2022).
SATAN IS “ALIVE AND WELL” IN THE MIND OF AFRIKANERS: INTOLERANCE,
ACADEMIA, AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONSTITUTION
This despite considerable scholarship on the issue of the Occult and related discourses, by
top South African Universities, such as the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) (see
Falkof 2023, 2020, 2019a, 2019b, 2015, 2012, 2010); the University of Stellenbosch (US)
(Swart & Dunbar 2012 & Dunbar 2012); University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN) (Wallace
2006, 2015, 2017, 2012), the University of Pretoria (UP) (Kroesbergen-Kamps 2022, 2020;
Kapp 2022b, 2022c, 2020 & Blackbeard 2019), along with the University of South Africa
(UNISA) (Van den Heever 2023a, 2023b). Occult practitioners and religions in South Africa,
still have a “long walk to freedom” ahead towards acceptance and tolerance in a country
still haunted by the ghosts of its past. This paper sought to explore the harmful
contemporary legacies caused by the “moral entrepreneurs”, as Falkof (2019a:133) puts it,
of the unique South African ‘Satanic panic’. Emerging during the fall of the apartheid
regime, the National Party, and conservative Christian Afrikaner privilege: South Africa
found itself in a social and political conundrum.
The Afrikaner lost his sense of identity, and with the threat of communism a thing of the
past, and discrimination against black Africans now illegal, Afrikaner Calvinists had to find a
new scapegoat responsible for the ever-changing zeitgeist of South Africa; along with its
government. Legislation changed to prevent discrimination and promote equality – yet,
gradually, South Africa’s borders were open to international cultural influences. And the
conservative, far-right Afrikaner felt it was the very end of the world, the NG Kerk (Dutch

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Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of the Western Cape (UWC); École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), PSL;
Institut des Mondes Africains (IMAF) & L’institut Français D’Afrique du Sud (IFAS), Recherche.
13
Reformed Church) had warned them about. It felt like the end, and the only ‘reasonable’
scapegoat was, of course, the Devil. Whose focus would shift to their children next.
Total religious freedom in South Africa, has been -and is still is, almost exclusively afforded
to individuals who form part of the Christo-normative majority. This, in light of the
exponential strides in Occult discourse made in both academic journals and lecture halls.
The problem, however, remains; these facts are virtually non-existent (accessible?) to the
general populace. This necessitates our approaches to traditional Occult-related beliefs and
the education thereof, ought to adapt. And furthermore, our understanding of “Occult” and
“crime”, should be approached as mutually exclusive without post hoc fallacies arguing
farfetched inferences. If we neglect this responsibility, people who deserve just as much
protection under the South African constitution as mainstream faiths do. Will continually be
punished/judged and ostracised by society for (automatically) being guilty of a crime by
religious association, in a country such as South Africa where the majority religious
demographic still believe: “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18).
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