Money is said to be at the centre of a bloody battle for control of one of SA’s biggest churches. Earlier this month, five people died after an early morning attack on the expansive headquarters of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) in the mining community of Zuurbekom, outside Joburg.
Squabbling in the church dates back to 2016, when Bishop Glayton Modise died intestate. He left a legacy worth R400m, including R50m in cash, about 50 cars and a number of properties.
The line between personal and church property had already been blurred much earlier by Glayton Modise’s father, Frederick, who founded the church in 1962. After his death, lawyers discovered that many of the church’s assets had found their way into his personal estate.
After Modise’s death in 2016, a succession battle broke out between his sons, Tshepiso and Leonard (who is currently leading the church), and Michael Sandlana, who claims to be Modise’s son and is the leader of the IPHC’s Jerusalem branch outside Pretoria.
The issue is the subject of a court dispute.
Months after Modise’s death, church elders were robbed of R1.3m by gunmen. A feud also broke out between his two widows, resulting in his first wife moving out of the church headquarters.
Church management had to take on Modise’s daughter to gain control of the organisation’s bank account, which at time contained R250m. Church elders claimed they were forced to pay monthly running costs of more than R6m, including a R1.8m salary bill and a R1.4m security bill, in cash.
There were also mutual accusations over the embezzlement of R115m from the church vault.
In November 2018 a shoot-out at the church in Zuurbekom left three people dead. It’s not yet clear which faction was responsible for the recent attack.
Former congregant Sinhle Mathevula says it makes her sad to see the current squabbles, which she claims are about money. She says the church used to be a place of healing, but she left over a decade ago when that started to change.
"I remember people healed from different sicknesses just by entering the place," Mathevula says.
But Vusi Ndala, spokesperson for the IPHC Jerusalem branch, claims the fight is not about money but about restoring the church to its original mission.
"We pay all the maintenance, rates and taxes for a number of properties; this is not about money," he says. "The healing service of IPHC is the foundation of this church."
Ndala says the church survives on members’ contributions, and preaches that blessings come from giving rather than receiving.
The Jerusalem church, in partnership with its leader’s foundation, "provides 100 meals a day to an orphanage in [nearby] Rabokala and has distributed over 3,000 food parcels since the lockdown started in March", Ndala says.
"The funds and money the church accumulates should be planned for, budgeted for, and take care of this spiritual community. The money congregants give in church should not be for the purpose of enriching the leaders, but for the growth and nurturing of members, most of whom are poor and destitute."
Direct contributions to the church leader are allowed, he explains, but a wise leader would give most of that back to the church.
There is no current figure for the number of churchgoers in SA, but the IPHC claims a membership of 5-million in the region, while the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) — the biggest in SA — in a recent statement said it has 12-million adherents in SA and neighbouring countries.
The ZCC is one of the oldest Pentecostal churches in SA, fusing African traditions and values with Christian faith, and proclaiming baptism by the Holy Spirit.
Pentecostal churches often emphasise material prosperity too. And while many appear to count their financial blessings in millions, transparency is rare.
In 2016, the ZCC’s Bishop Barnabas Lekganyane told the Commission for the Promotion & Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious & Linguistic Communities (the CRL Rights Commission) that the ZCC made money from offerings, funeral and car insurance, masogana le makgarebe (girls’ and boys’) programmes and his transport business.
The church also takes a monthly collection of R14 from young members to pay for water, office equipment and stationery.
In 2017, the CRL Rights Commission published a report on church abuses after conducting extensive hearings, which included 40 churches. But there has been no action yet on the commission’s recommendations, as the report is still before parliament.
Questionable practices continue. Last year businessman-evangelist Alph Lukau made headlines for appearing to resurrect a dead man.
Lukau is often described as the richest pastor in Africa, and his Instagram timeline is filled with fast cars and private jets. "May God use my life to be a blessing to you," his social media profile reads.
In 2002, Lukau founded Alleluia Ministries in Joburg. Since then, it’s expanded to Zambia, Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (where Lukau was born) and Angola, as well as countries in Europe and South America.
Tickets for his mega-services can cost up to R5,000.
Another prosperous pastor, Shepherd Bushiri, is reportedly worth more than R2bn. His company, Shepherd Bushiri Investments, had interests in mining, real estate, an airline and a hotel group.
Bushiri, the Malawi-born founder of the Enlightened Christian Gathering, claims he can cure HIV and walk on air. But he’s also attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies, and his fraud and money-laundering trial is set to start next week.
Last year the asset forfeiture unit attached Bushiri’s private jet — reportedly bought with cash. His fleet of luxury cars has also attracted the unit’s attention.
Pastor Ray McCauley, founder and senior pastor at the Rhema Bible Church, courted controversy a decade ago for sympathising with former president Jacob Zuma. But he’s stayed out of the limelight of late.
In a 2009 statement, the church said its assets were worth R100m. In 2016, Rhema spin-off the Grace Bible Church declared in an annual report on its website that it had assets of more than R200m.
That report has since been taken down.
The prosperity gospel movement started in the US more than a century ago, when Methodist minister Essek William Kenyon taught that Christians could realise their emotional and physical desires by making a positive confession.
Pentacostalist Kenneth Hagin incorporated this thinking into his beliefs, advocating the view that Christians could get rich if they had enough faith.
The prosperity gospel found its way to Africa after Hagin and his associates preached their gospel in African-initiated churches across Nigeria. US televangelism also contributed to the spread.
Collium Banda, postdoctoral research fellow in theology at North-West University, says: “Traditional mainline conservative churches founded mostly by white missionaries are on the decline, and some congregations have shut after losing members.” In contrast, he says, the neo-Pentecostal and prophetic-type, or spirit-type, churches are “growing phenomenally” in Africa.
Pentecostal churches tap into an African world view that includes witchcraft, demons and other types of evil spirits, says Banda. These churches also focus “on the spiritual causes of the socioeconomic and material problems affecting many poor people” and provide spiritual resources to fight diseases and social problems. The churches are also popular because their leaders fill the leadership vacuum in our communities. Neo-Pentecostal prophets are often decisive, visionary and entrepreneurial and able to command many followers.”
According to the Pew Research Center, of the 63% of Africans who identify as Christians, 57% are Protestant (which includes Pentecostal churches).
Pastors with the largest number of followers on the continent include David Oyedepo, Enoch Adeboye, Ayodele Oritsejafor, Chris Oyakhilome, TB Joshua and Matthew Ashimolowo (all from Nigeria), as well as Uebert Angel from Zimbabwe and former SA banker the late Tshifhiwa Irene.
— Preaching prosperity
Though some churches’ earnings exceed those of small and medium-sized companies, they enjoy substantial tax breaks.
The CRL Rights Commission noted in its 2017 report that many churches slip through the cracks. "Some that are registered [as nonprofit organisations, or NPOs] with [the] department of social development do not even report yearly to the department as required by law," the report notes.
Some churches have a turnover beyond the limit for NPOs, but do not declare this to the SA Revenue Service (Sars). Others move money to their headquarters in other countries without notifying the Reserve Bank, the report notes. And some make money through false advertising: for example, one woman paid R250,000 for a prayer to help her fall pregnant.
Social development spokesperson Lumka Oliphant says 20,884 of the 32,399 churches registered on the government’s NPO database had not submitted their annual financial statements by June.
She adds that "some churches are registered with the [Companies & Intellectual Property Commission] as entities to make profit, and some are not registered at all with any government institution".
Last year, Mark Kingon — then the acting Sars commissioner — said the abuse of tax breaks by churches, especially those run as companies, would be investigated. Religious leaders should assume liability for taxes arising from the use of assets, such as cars, for personal benefit, he said.
Sars could not give details about church registration, but a spokesperson said the tax authority "remains determined to continue its efforts at ensuring compliance within this sector".
Keeping churches accountable is a delicate task, because their vast numbers of followers mean they pack a political punch.
It’s also a challenge because regulations have to be crafted carefully around the right to religious freedom, says Moss Ntlha, general secretary for the Evangelical Alliance of SA.
Ntlha says some churches "deliberately don’t want to connect with anybody, in part because then they can do pretty much what they think they can get away with in terms of freedom of religion".
His alliance, like the International Federation of Christian Churches and the SA Council of Churches, is trying to keep churches accountable for their practices and beliefs.
"Some of the new churches have identified a niche market," he says. Unlike the traditional churches from Europe and the US, these groups focus on both the supernatural and the spiritual, which have touch points with African traditional religions.
"The reason some of these churches seem to thrive is that they offer that dimension of the supernatural and they will fill that niche market by hook or by crook, by any means possible," Ntlha says.
"Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much by way of legislation to prevent abuses."
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.