A French couple being evicted from a farm in South Africa allegedly shot dead a policeman, wounded another, then chased a third policeman and the farmer’s sons in a bakkie through the bush for four kilometres.
The owner of the property, Gerhardus du Plessis, says he evicted the couple due to their bizarre behavior. Du Plessis said the couple was volved with the Ramtha School of Enlightenment and that they “had been quite paranoid about the end of the world.”
“They also believed that they would have to fend for themselves and survive in the bush.”
According to website reports, the Ramtha cult was started by an American called Judy Knight who claims that Ramtha, a 35 000-year old disembodied entity from an ancient civilisation, “channels” through her, Helen Bamford reports in the Weekend Argus.
Knight also claims to be able to link ancient wisdom and the power of consciousness with the latest discoveries in science.
She travels around the world, including to South Africa. A further controversial issue regarding Ramtha’s teachings involves the so-called end times, which are linked to a belief that the Mayan civilization predicted the world would end in 2012. Some of the cult’s students believe that they can obtain powers to raise the dead, freeze a rocket in mid-air, make gold appear out of thin air, and predict the future.
David Thomas adds: The bizarre murder of Sutherland policeman Jacob Boleme, allegedly by a French couple with links to a US-based cult, the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, has shone a spotlight on the unusual American organisation.
Notes on the Ramtha School of Enlightenment were found alongside medical supplies, emergency packs and survival guides in the fugitive couple’s farmhouse.
JZ Knight’s claims of being a clairvoyant with telepathic abilities have been ridiculed by scientists.