Tokoloshe
A small, harmful water spirit of Nguni belief, said in South African sources to be made or sent by witches to cause illness or death.
Belief in the tokoloshe has been tied to violence against young children in South Africa: IOL reported in 2001 that a man was convicted of murdering a baby he believed was a tokoloshe, and The Herald in 2005 linked an attack on a toddler to the killer's belief in omens and spirits. A 2015 study places the tokoloshe within a fear of witchcraft that affects social cohesion in South Africa.
Wikipedia describes the tokoloshe of Nguni mythology as a small, dwarf-like water spirit, mischievous and malign, that can vanish from sight by swallowing a stone or by drinking water. People with bad intent call on it to trouble others. At its mildest it is used to frighten children; at worst, Wikipedia says, it brings sickness or death. Other spellings include tikoloshe, tokolotshe and thokolosi, and it is also called hili.
A study of the fear of witchcraft in South Africa, published in Psychology in Society in 2015, found that people understood the tokoloshe as something witches make, comparable to the zombies that witches use against others. Petrus, quoted in The Herald in 2005, said belief in the tokoloshe or the impundulu, two distinct agents of witchcraft, is common across Africa. People believe, he said, that destroying such an agent can destroy its sender, or at least break that witch's power.
The belief has been tied to violence against young children. IOL reported in 2001 that a judge of the Durban High Court found an Umlazi medicine man guilty of murder for killing a baby he believed was a tokoloshe. The Herald's 2005 report linked an attack on a toddler to the killer's faith in omens and spirits.
Jerome Pikwane's 2018 feature film The Tokoloshe drew on the figure. A 2022 review in African Studies Review describes it as a psychological thriller with elements of paranormal horror, told through fragmented flashbacks that blur past and present.
"In Nguni mythology, the tokoloshe, tikoloshe, tikolosh, tonkolosh, tonkolosi, tokolotshe, thokolosi, or hili is a dwarf-like water spirit. It is a mischievous and evil spirit that can become invisible by drinking water or swallowing a stone. Tokoloshes are called upon by malevolent people to cause trouble for others. At its least harmful, a tokoloshe can be used to scare children, but its power extends to causing illness or even the death of the victim."
- "Burn the witch": The impact of the fear of witchcraft on social cohesion in South Africa, Psychology in Society 49 (2015)
- Killer's belief in omens, spirits led to attack on toddler, Nicky Blatch, The Herald, Port Elizabeth (2005), via Wayback Machine
- Man who cried 'tokoloshe' guilty of murder, IOL / Independent Online (2001)
- Review: Jerome Pikwane, dir. The Tokoloshe (2018), African Studies Review, Cambridge University Press (2022)