Former Isibaya and The River actor Siyabonga Thwala has made a dramatic U-turn on his family’s Shembe faith, denouncing ancestral worship despite previously crediting the church for helping him and his wife conceive after two years of trying.
Thwala — who has commanded lead roles in Generations, Scandal, Muvhango, The Republic, Legacy, eHostela, and Smoke & Mirrors — has now declared that he is born-again.
In a video making waves on social media, the actor proclaimed that there is “nothing good” about venerating ancestors when one follows Jesus Christ.
“I know the amazing things God has done in my life,” he told a gathering.
“I was saved through a Christian book. We used to fellowship at the Shembe church. I’m the only one in my family who is born-again. I’m not afraid. Jesus is my protector.”
How a book changed Thwala’s life
He recalled how his spiritual awakening began when a wealthy friend refused to give him money and instead handed him a book.
“I needed cash. He gave me a book. I was confused — how can you give me a book when I’m broke? Later, I went to a Shembe service with another young man.
“He sat in the sun — we were looking for God. But the songs were too many and too long. You start wondering, ‘when is God arriving in all this?’”
After the service, Thwala returned home to find his wife in tears. She had begun reading the same book.
“I picked it up, and within five pages, I was crying too,” he said.
“The Holy Spirit was at work. I was shocked that what happened to her was now happening to me. That book changed our lives. Jesus entered our home through that book.”
Preying on people’s fears
Thwala said this decision angered his relatives, who rejected his new path. Now emboldened, he says he no longer fears the backlash.
“Instead of celebrating that I lifted them from the pit, they turned against me. I used to be afraid, wondering what would happen if they heard me speak like this. But Jesus is in my life. Familiar spirits want to return — but they will find no place here.”
He did not spare traditional healers, accusing them of preying on people’s fears and exploiting the desperate.
“They go and fetch spiritual things, then come to play with God’s people,” he said.
“I wish Jehovah could burn those things — and them too. People are forced to borrow money from loan sharks to pay for these rituals. You traditional healers are evil. I wish you could burn in hell.”
Thwala said Christians carry a generational assignment.
“When you are chosen, you don’t rest. God gives you a heart that forgives. You bring your family together. You change the destiny of your grandchildren. You are chosen to rewrite your bloodline.”
Spirits often target kids
While conceding that traditional healers may have spiritual powers to recover lost items, Thwala warned that their solutions come at a cost.
“They build a spirit that fetches your stolen belongings. But that spirit becomes tied to you. You think it’s over once you’ve recovered your goods — but that spirit comes home with you.”
He warned that such spirits often target children.
“You begin to sense something walking with you. If you have daughters, things start happening at night. You have to open the windows.
“There are unseen spirits that sleep with your children and deposit bad luck in their bodies. When you leave here, go burn those altars. Don’t be scared of traditional healers.”
