What is it about?
Why do people sometimes believe that criminals were influenced by the Devil, demons, or occult "hidden" evil forces, instead of seeing violent crime as an ordinary human action? This study examines why certain crimes in South Africa are often described as “occult” or “Satanic” by the public and the media. Using well-known local cases such as the Krugersdorp murders and the murder of Kirsty Theologo, the research explores how Christian religious belief, fear, media reporting, and social pressures can lead people to believe that criminals were influenced by demonic or supernatural "Satanic" forces. Instead of viewing these crimes as actions done by ordinary humans, many people interpret them through Christian ideas about good and evil, sometimes claiming that “the Devil made them do it.” The study argues that these “occult crime” explanations are conspiracy theories shaped by mainstream cultural and religious views, especially within some Afrikaner Christian communities. Overall, the paper aims to better understand how religion and society influence ideas about crime, responsibility, morality, and justice in South Africa.
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Why is it important?
This study is important because it helps explain how religion, culture, and media influence the way South Africans understand crime and criminal responsibility. When crimes are quickly labelled as “occult” or “Satanic,” people may focus more on supernatural explanations than on the real psychological, social, or criminal causes of violence. By studying these beliefs, the research can help reduce fear, misinformation, and moral panic surrounding so-called occult crime. It is also important for law, criminology, and journalism because it encourages professionals to rely on evidence rather than sensational or religious assumptions when interpreting crimes such as the Krugersdorp murders or the murder of Kirsty Theologo. More broadly, the study helps people understand how ideas about good, evil, morality, and justice are shaped by society and belief systems in South Africa.
Perspectives
People tend to blame the devil and demonic influences to avoid taking accountability for their own actions. This is as a result of popular beliefs (mainly among conservative Christians) that result in people inventing scapegoats. Suggesting that they were manipulated by supernatural forces to commit horrible acts of criminality and therefore are not able to account for what they did, they avoid taking responsibility for the true reasoning behind monstrous acts of cruelty. Ordinary humans can and do commit horrible crimes, but sometimes this idea is difficult to reconcile - especially when the perpetrators are 'good Christian folk'. Ordinary people struggle to accept that ordinary humans are capable of severe cruelty, and as such, individuals create elaborate theories to explain monstrosities by looking for the proverbial monster under the bed, instead of recognising they sat next to them in church. Thankfully, South African law occupies itself with evidence and is not persuaded by moral blame shifting
Dr Tristán Kapp
University of the Western Cape
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’
Electus per Deus
and Quasi‐Occult Crime in South Africa, Religion Compass, January 2026, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/rec3.70041.
You can read the full text:
Resources
The Devil Made Me Do It: Understanding South Africa’s Occult-related Crime by Nicky Falkof
South Africa can sometimes appear to be awash with occult crime. From satanist conspiracies and witchcraft accusations to muti murders and demonic possession, a trawl through our national news suggests a society at war with the forces of evil. Why does the occult have such a grasp on our collective imagination?
The End of Whiteness: Satanism and family murder in South Africa by Nicky Falkof
Towards the end of apartheid, white South Africans found themselves in the middle of new social and political change that showed itself in some strangely morbid ‘symptoms’. This book discusses two of the primary symptoms that appeared in the media and in popular literature at the time – an apparent threat from a cult of white Satanists and a so-called epidemic of white family murder. These two ‘moral panics’ reveal important truths about the attitudes of white culture at that time, revealing both a social response to fear of change and the effects that apartheid may have had on those who benefited from it the most.
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