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A spooky folk tale has come to life in the heart of an Eastern Cape village.

On October 25, in Kwaqongqota, a small village situated along the R102 road between Mdantsane and Qonce, a local man was found mauled to death with horrific bite marks all over his body.

According to eyewitnesses, the Eastern Cape police said that Diesel Michael Makambi, 59, was bitten by wild sea dogs (iintini) near the Buffalo River.

The victim’s family, however, believes that he was mauled to death by three pit bulls from a neighbouring township.

Meanwhile, the community is spreading rumours that Makambi was in fact bitten by a werewolf and have been on high alert ever since.

Makambi’s family have rejected this as fake news, and are urging residents to stop believing the social media posts that are spreading like wildfire.

News24 has more:

Makambi was buried this past weekend, but claims of a werewolf on the loose have not died down.

…People have warned friends and family on social media posts to steer clear of Kwaqongqota because of the bloodthirsty creature that is reportedly lurking in the area.

A popular Qonce running club warned its members to immediately refrain from jogging near the area until the werewolf has been captured or killed.

One warning was even accompanied by a sketch, a man with wolf-like features, which was lifted from the internet.

Makambi’s 96-year-old mother, Nongenile Liziwe Makambi, is absolutely heartbroken, having lost another son to an illness just weeks ago.

She said that children had found her son and told her what had happened:

“Before he passed on, he managed to tell the boys that he was attacked by three dogs and pleaded for help. We heard that a woman had seen my son being attacked by the dogs and screamed for people to rescue him but by the time the boys got there, it was too late.

“The dogs tore my son into pieces,” Nongenile added with a quivering voice.

A post-mortem has been performed on Makambi’s body to establish the exact cause of death, although the Eastern Cape Department of Health will not disclose more information as the matter is under police investigation.

The werewolf myth is not new in South Africa.

Earlier this year, AFP Fact Check called out a number of social media posts for being fake news:

Graphic images and a video have been shared thousands of times in separate Facebook posts in South Africa alongside a claim that they show a bloodied ‘werewolf’ killed by a motorist in the country’s Northern Cape province.

But the claim is false: the ‘werewolf’ is a movie prop created by special-effects artist Joseph Rob-Cobasky for an upcoming film.

Exhibit A:

Image: Fact Check Screenshot of one of the false Facebook posts, taken on July 9, 2021

Exhibit B:

Image: Fact Check Screenshot of the false video post, taken on July 9, 2021

It should go without saying, but a werewolf is strictly the stuff of folklore and is not a real creature.

As ANC councillor-elect Kholiwe Faku said, “There is no werewolf.”

[source:news24]