I Used to Kidnap Children and Feed a Money Ritual Snake in a Huge River Outside the Country....

Before you judge me, I have reported myself to the police and even told them which river we used to throw the children. They communicated with the police from the other country. Water diving was done and nothing was found in there, and I was taken to a psychiatric hospital.

I am not writing this to shock anyone. I am writing because the truth has been sitting on my chest for too many years, and I can no longer carry it alone.

What I was involved in, here in South Africa, is called trafficking. Over the border, they called it wealth — as if giving something a nicer name can clean the blood off it. It never did. The word “wealth” became poison in my mouth.

I was young, desperate, confused, and easily controlled. Someone convinced me that a certain river in the neighbouring country held a money ritual snake. They said if we “fed it,” it would bring fortune. I believed them because my own life felt hopeless. I believed them because I thought suffering was the only door to survival.

So I used to live in a squatters camp somewhere in South Africa. I worked as a Gardner in a very beautiful suburb. Where I'd see people my age driving my dream cars and living in my dream house. I felt like a total failure and hated my life. 

I used to ask for jobs at the park of that suburb,anyone who needed something done quickly would just pick us up and we get the job done for them.

One day I was picked up by a white guy, very wealthy and it was very weird because the white guy spoke very broken English and couldn't speak nor understand Afrikaans but he claimed he was South African.

That man kept picking me everyday for the entire month and he would pay me generously for petty jobs. As petty as polishing his shoes he would pay me R2000. I did the most easiest jobs for him but he paid me big money.

That entire month life was great and I was so sure that I was God's favourite child and he didn't know how to spoil me so he brought this man to do it on his behalf. There was even a day where he paid me R1000 just for cutting his nails.

Remember the odd jobs we used to do for other house hold included gardening, painting, cutting big trees etc and we would only get paid R200 per day after hours of hard labour so you need to understand my excitement.

But then this man dissapered for an entire month and I was really sad and broken because I had been providing and spoiling my wife and kids the previous month but now we are back to struggling.

But he came through one day,this time he said he just needed a friend to talk to. I was happy to see him and I hopped into his very expensive and luxurious car. When we arrived he opened a bottle of expensive whiskey and we started drinking and chatted away.

His beautiful and young wife brought us meat for snacking. A huge shock because where I came for meat wasn't for snacking. Anywhere he then asked me if he can trust me. I said yes and he said follow me.

He took me to a white trailer at the back of his house and said you can't tell anyone about this and this could change your life forever. I was a bit uncomfortable at this point because his face had changed,it was more on the serious side now. When he opened that trailer I could not believe what I saw.

The trailer was packed with children between the ages 2 to 12 years. The kids were all sitting in the dark trailer looking very terrified,they had swollen eyes,dried tears which showed that they cried till they got tired.

The kids looked like the typical squatter camp kids who had been playing outside with dirty hands and feet. Dirty clothes, stuffed noses and untidy hair. They looked very scared and tired.

He quickly closed the trailer and said let's walk back. At this point I was confused and scared. He said let's sit down and I'll explain everything to you. He told me that those kids deserved better and he wanted to give them a better life outside.

He convenienced me that he knew people who could take care of them and give them a better life and education. He spoke about how their kids weren't doing a good job raising them because they looked unhealthy and malnourished.

I don't know why and how I agreed with him and bought his story because that's just how most of us were raised. I agreed to help him get more kids and he promised to get my family and I from the squatter camp and give us the best life ever. He said all he needed from me was just 20 kids in a year.

That day when I left he gave me R200 000 and said I should buy myself a car to make the job easier. I had never seen so much money in my life. You can imagine the joy on my face and I was already imagining how proud my wife and kids would be of me.

I bought myself the car after a few days and soon enough I started the job. After a couple of months I took my children out of the squatter camp. I kept going back to the squatter camp to execute my mission.

I knew where the kids played,I knew their patterns and I mostly knew what they liked and how to lure them. Some knew me so they trusted me. Some have seen me before so they weren't worried.

I genuinely thought they were given a better life until one day the man had an emergency and i had to be the one delivering the kids. Trust and believe that corruption is real in this country. I crossed the border like I wasn't doing anything illegal. That man has connections.

I arrived at the place I was told. I was told to wait till midnight to deliver the kids. I only had 3 kids with me. Midnight came and I was shocked when an old granny who was half naked came to fetch the kids and I .

I was very shocked and confused but I remember I was told not to ask any questions. We boarded the flight untroubled because the kids had fake ID's and I also had a fake idea with a surname that matches the kids.

Anyway the old lady said let's go before the owner gets angry. I didn't understand but I woke the kids up and we followed her. We walked to a very big river which was very scary and there she started pouring Muti in the river and speaking a language I didn't understand. Then the river turned black like pitch black.

Suddenly it made a sound like something big was emerging,and a big snake emerged. At this point the kids and I were terrified. They started hiding behind me. They trusted me enough to protect them. Then the woman told me to let go off the kids.

They begged me not to let them go. The old woman got angry and aggressive and pushed  them into the river. Then the snaked coiled itself around them and dissapered. Suddenly the water turned red. Narrating this still traumatises me.

On my flight back home ,I was haunted by their excitement at the airport. How happy and thrilled they were to see and get on a plane. something inside me died. 

When I got home the man gave me 3 million but the money meant nothing. The promises meant nothing. The darkness grew stronger, and I became weaker. I lost my sleep. I lost my peace. I lost myself.

The guilt became too heavy. I could not eat without shaking. I could not walk in public without feeling like everyone could see the darkness on my skin. My heart was drowning.

I told the man I was no longer interested in the job. He threatened my whole family. He threatened he would hurt all of them and that once I was in there was no way out. Only death could save me he said. He also convinced me that the first time is always harder but it gets harder with time.

I went back the second time and when I came back I knew I didn't want to do this anymore and I needed to do something fast.

One day, I walked into a police station and confessed. I told them everything — the river, the rituals, the people involved, the things I did and the things I witnessed. I expected handcuffs. I expected prison.

Instead, the police looked confused. They contacted the authorities from the other country. Divers went into that river. They searched and searched. They found nothing at all. No bodies. No bones. No proof. Just water and silence.

I was arrested for a couple of days and set free. I think what made them start doubting me even more was the fact that now the man I directed them to was nowhere to be found. The owner of that house claimed not to know him and said they were the owner of the house and no such a man ever lived there and that they have been living there for many years.

It was like the sins had disappeared into the river, leaving me as the only evidence.

After my confession, I was taken to a psychiatric hospital. The doctors said my mind was drowning in trauma and fear. They said I needed help. They said sometimes darkness can twist your memories, or make you believe things that feel real but leave no trace behind.

Maybe they were right. Maybe the rituals were more psychological than physical. Maybe I was manipulated by people who prey on fear. Maybe evil does not always leave fingerprints.

What I know for sure is that the guilt was real. The nightmares were real. The suffering was real.

Inside that hospital, I cried for the first time in years. I cried for the families I hurt. I cried for the child I once was — the one who dreamed of a simple, honest life. I cried because I realised how far I had fallen.

This confession is not for sympathy. It is a warning.

Do not let desperation push you into darkness.
Do not let anyone convince you that evil is a path to wealth.
Do not trade your soul for promises.

I am still living with the regret.
I am still trying to rebuild myself.
I am still learning how to breathe without shame.

This is my truth.
This is my burden.
This is the story I will carry for the rest of my life.