Poppy Maseko is demanding justice after her 76-year-old mother, Gogo Busi Maseko, was brutally killed by a mob in Etwatwa, Ekurhuleni, after being falsely accused of witchcraft. The heartbreaking incident has sparked public outrage, with many calling for greater awareness around dementia and its symptoms to prevent such tragedies in the future.
Poppy recounted that the terrifying ordeal began late on Monday night, 9 June, when her mother, who suffered from dementia, began behaving strangely. Gogo Busi told her daughter that she could hear her late mother calling her and expressed a strong desire to leave the house.
Knowing her mother’s condition, Poppy tried her best to calm her down. “I gave her medication, locked all the doors, and put her to bed,” she said. Before going to bed herself, Poppy checked on her mother at midnight and found her peacefully sleeping.
However, by the early hours of the morning, Poppy’s worst nightmare came true. At around 5:10am, she woke up to find the main door of the house and her mother’s bedroom door wide open. Gogo Busi was missing.
Panic set in as Poppy desperately called family members, but no one knew of her mother’s whereabouts. Taking to Facebook, she posted a photo of her mum in the hope that someone in the community had seen her. Around 7am, she received a devastating tip-off—an elderly woman had been assaulted by a mob in Emabeleni Section after being accused of witchcraft.
By the time Poppy arrived at the scene, her mother had already been taken by ambulance to the Phillip Moyo Clinic in Etwatwa. Tragically, Gogo Busi was pronounced dead upon arrival.
What makes this tragedy even more painful is that the mob acted purely on suspicion, fueled by ignorance about dementia. Gogo Busi, disoriented and confused, had been found sleeping in a stranger’s yard. Instead of offering help or contacting authorities, the community took matters into their own hands.
“My mother is suffering from dementia, and having this mental illness doesn’t make her a witch,” Poppy said tearfully. “How could they beat an old, defenceless woman who was clearly confused? Did they even find any muthi (traditional medicine) on her?”
She passionately urged the public to educate themselves about dementia, emphasizing that disorientation and confusion are symptoms of the condition—not signs of witchcraft. “When old people suffer from dementia, they get lost and confused. People need to stop being ignorant,” she pleaded.
Etwatwa Police have since opened an inquest docket into the matter. Station commander Colonel Patrick Qangase warned the community against mob justice, urging residents to report suspicious behavior to the police instead of resorting to violence.
As the family mourns their devastating loss, Poppy is determined to see justice served for her late mother. “She didn’t deserve to die in this cruel manner,” she said.
The tragedy has sparked a wider call for communities to foster compassion, understanding, and education about mental illnesses like dementia to prevent further unnecessary deaths.
