Event SummarySouth African Zulu folk singer Khulekani "Mgqumeni" Khumalo died in 2009. Last week, a man claiming to be Khumalo emerged in Khumalo's hometown in the KwaZulu-Natal province of southern Africa. Speaking to a crowd of thousands, he announced his "resurrection", explaining that a witch had kidnapped him and kept him in a cave with zombies, where he was forced to sing and eat only mud (which caused him to lose weight), and that he himself would have become a zombie if he had not fled to Johannesburg. Upon his return, his grandparents, two of his wives and his daughter confirmed his identity, while an ex-lover and childhood friend rejected the request. During his "unveiling", he refused to sing and instead recited the names of his clan. Police used water cannons on the crowd after the thousands who had marched to catch a glimpse of him became noisy. Police immediately suspected fraud and on Tuesday “Khumalo” appeared in the Nquthu Magistrates Court. The fingerprints made it possible to determine that it is in fact Sibusiso John Gcabashe; it's unclear whether or not the man believes his own story.AnalysisAlthough this story appears at first glance to be prime tabloid fodder, it plays on several different tensions within African culture. Most obvious is the tension between traditional belief in witchcraft and modern denigration of that belief. To a Westerner, witchcraft is a vestige of a “primitive” society and encourages feelings of superiority, but to a traditional African, it is a part of existence and a form of theodicy. Witchcraft explains suffering in such a way that it can be treated; the witch can be sought out and forced to change her evil actions. Gcabashe's assertion that a witch physically adheres to the same culture appears to be a source of embarrassment for African officials. Mgqumeni' is detained. BBC News. February 6, 2012. “South African police accuse Mgqumeni 'imposter' of fraud. » BBC News. February 7, 2012.Liston, Enjoli. “A man from the witchcraft crowd claiming to be a reincarnated singer kidnapped by zombies.” The Independent Online. February 8, 2012. Campbell, Andy. "The zombie singer turns out to be Sibusiso John Gcabashe, not later the South African Zulu folk singer Khulekani "Mgqumeni" Khumalo." The Huffington Post. February 8, 2012. Secondary sourceNeihaus, Isak. “Witches and Zombies of the South African Lowveld: Discourses, Accusations and Subjective Reality.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 11, no. 2 (June 2005), pp. 191-210. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.