Times Of Swaziland: TINYANGA OPERATE MOBILE CLINICS FOR COVID-19 TINYANGA OPERATE MOBILE CLINICS FOR COVID-19 ================================================================================ BY SIBUSISO ZWANE on 14/01/2021 00:12:00 MANZINI - Traditional healers are operating as mobile clinics amid the threat posed by the second wave of COVID-19. This was revealed by Witchdoctors Associations National Chairman Makhanya Makhanya, who said they were targeting saving lives of COVID-19 patients who were under home-based care. He said since government would not give them the green light to treat COVID-19 patients until their concoctions had been scientifically tested and approved, especially by the World Health Organisation (WHO), they would not fold their arms and watch as the second wave of the coronavirus was sweeping the nation. In that regard, he said COVID-19 patients who were recovering from home and the nation at large, should not hesitate to call them up and invite them to their isolation rooms at home to treat them. Sicknesses He claimed that their traditional remedies had saved many lives out there from different sicknesses, which western medicine had difficulties in treating, like cancer and asthma among others. Makhanya claimed that one could recover from the virus within two days after taking their steaming and drinking mixtures as prescribed. Again, the chairman said emaSwati should not worry that they would transmit the virus from one household to another as they did not have close contact with the patients. In fact, he said they practised all the laid down safety precautions and wore protective gear such as face masks and hand gloves when attending to patients. On the same note, well-known traditional healer Elliot ‘Black Cat’ Fakudze and the inyanga from the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC), Dr Guensta Ikartachi, said as the COVID-19 pandemic cases were still on the rise, they had to prove that they loved the country and its citizens by saving their lives. In that regard, they pleaded with the government to, in one way or the other, consider giving traditional doctors a chance to assist in the fight against the virus. They argued that every individual had a responsibility to stop the virus from spreading and claiming lives of emaSwati. “Yes, we are working out there and believe that we have assisted a number of people to recover from the virus, but if government can give us the green light to work openly, that can give the patients courage to try our traditional remedies,” the traditional healers said. They said they were prepared to work with government in fighting the virus and keeping the citizens safe. Meanwhile, efforts to get a comment from the Director of Health Services, Dr Vusi Magagula, proved futile as his mobile phone rang unanswered for the better part of yesterday afternoon. The last call was made at 5:12pm. It is worth noting that by end of business on Tuesday, the country had recorded a total of 11 919 cases of COVID-19 and 319 deaths. On Tuesday alone, the country reported 308 new cases and 21 deaths.