South African man stung to death by angry bee swarm he thought were ancestors

A strange bloke has died after a swarm of bees he was trying to talk to turn on him and stung him to death.

South Africa-native Nkosentsha Njimbana was attempting to communicate with the bees because he thought they were his ancient ancestors.

But it soon became clear that they were not, when the attacked him inside his home in the South African city of Qonce, in the Eastern Cape province.

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It is now being claimed by local experts that the man's death last month was proof that his “ancestors were angry” – and a police inquest by Tamara Police has been opened.

His younger brother Mandla said the bee-talking was part of a ceremony known as Ukugxotha Iinyosi in the Xhosa language, which means “dispersing of bees” in English.

Xhosa is spoken by millions of people in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Some African cultures believe that ancestors visit the living in the shape of bees as well as water monitor lizards, often to remind them of the rituals that they need to perform, according to local media.

Madnla said: “This is the most painful thing ever to befall our family.

“We don't understand why they were so angry with him, yet he had welcomed them to his home.

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“He never tried to violently chase them away."

Loyiso Nqevu, from the Inkolo Kantu Traditional Organisation, told local media that the attack could have been as a result of the man failing to correctly decode the message his ancestors were trying to communicate to him.

He explained: “This is the welcoming ceremony.

If you are a Xhosa person, you don't run away and call municipal workers to remove the bees because bees are your visitors.

“They are your ancestors, you talk to them and acknowledge their arrival with the gifts and promise to return to them in due course while you go to find out the purpose of their visit.”

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