“The lizard is big and scary!” said a resident of Mfeni Village in Illovo, south of Durban.

“We don’t walk where we like to walk anymore. We are scared.

“The giant lizard comes out at all times, day and night.”

Inyanga Bhaka, also a well-known maskandi musician, has made a small dam to perform cleansing rituals for his clients.

ANGAZI LUTHO:Traditional healer Bhaka Nzama said he doesn’t know anything about the reptile alleged to be in the dam (inset) near his home. Photos by Jabulani Langa

However, this has caused fear among the residents of Mfeni Village, as they say the dam has become home to a big lizard that sometimes blocks the road next to it.

Bhaka made headlines in 2015 when he dated singer Kelly Khumalo.

Villagers told Daily Sun the lizard came out of the dam and went to lie in the road.

Another villager told the SunTeam she walked along the road to get to work and she almost collapsed the first time she saw the reptile coming out of the dam.

“I was walking on the road next to Bhaka’s house when I saw this lizard coming out of the water and walking to the road. It didn’t harm me, but it was scary. Cars had to make U-turns,” she said.

Villagers said they took the matter to the local induna and asked him to tell Bhaka to put up a fence around the dam or demolish the dam.

The induna, who would only give his surname as Shandu, confirmed that villagers had complained.

“I’m aware of these complaints and I’m going to meet Bhaka to find a solution to this,” he said.

Bhaka told the SunTeam he has never seen the lizard.

“I dug the dam to perform cleansing ceremonies and I have never noticed a problem,” he said.

“However, I spend most of my time in Durban and maybe this lizard comes out when I’m not at home.”

Bhaka said if he got formal complaints, he would meet residents to find a solution but he would not fill up the dam as he used it to heal people.