A successful British banking consultant has traded in his life in the UK for that of an expat role in South Africa- as a witch doctor.
Berkshire born Thomas Heathfield, 32, left the UK months ago to complete an arduous initiation process in the South African wilderness. After partaking in the three month training, last week he finally completed the course and was sworn in as a “sangoma.”
The final act of his training involved a tribal dance and the vomiting up of goat’s blood. Upon completion he was given a new name, Gogo Mndawe.
He first became interested in the ‘sangoma’ a few years ago, and after a lot of research he decided to give up his banking consultancy job and ventured to South Africa. Speaking to The Telegraph, Heathfield, or Gogo Mndawe, described why he made his decision: “It's not something you just decide to do – it chooses you rather than the other way round and it's such a massive process that you don't enter into it lightly. Some people might see this as a weird decision because I had a successful job in the UK and quite a nice life.”
However, such a drastic upheaval will undoubtedly create certain holes in one’s life, and Gogo conceded that he will “really miss Starbucks coffee.”