Michael Andile Dlamini, a successful herbalist from Nongoma, South Africa, has become known as Mzimb’okhalimali (a body dripping with money) after he started wearing a suit made of real banknotes, to show off his wealth.
Dlamini started working as a healer three years ago, after finally listening to the voices of his ancestors. The 33-year-old claims that when he was 12, his ancestors spoke to him in his dreams, telling him which trees and plants to mix remedies out of, but he chose to ignore them. Then, in 2011, he started having these weird dreams again, where his ancestors would tell him to go into the forest to gather plants and roots for herbal remedies. He started filling ill, and had his house broken into, and after seeing a ‘sangoma’ (healer) who scolded him for not listening to his visions, Dlamini finally decided to become a herbalist.
It turned out to be the best thing he ever did, as his potions and creams became insanely popular from the very beginning. Dlamini claims he makes between R15,000 ($1,000) and R20,000 ($1,500) a day by selling herbal products, which include Pincode, a herbal concoction to boost sex drive, a “lucky soap” that removes pimples and stretchmarks, and “blessed water”.
