“And I ask why am I black, they say I was born in sin, and shamed inequity.
“One of the main songs we used to sing in church makes me sick, ‘love wash me and I shall be whiter than snow’.”
You may wonder why I chose to start my piece with this quote by legendary musician, Peter Tosh.
There are days when I am almost tempted to say there is no God, no heaven and heaven is earth.
I then remind myself that my father was a God-fearing person who every night would call us to prayer before we went to sleep.
He was a good man who made me love people and for who they are.
I write this piece because there’s chaos in Mzantsi.
There are times when I ask whose God would allow His holy name to be misused the way it is in Mzantsi.
It was on a sunny Sunday in my then church in Khayelitsha when I decided to stop serving human beings who masqueraded around as reverends and who called themselves pastors and evangelists.
On that particular day, this guy was just not happy with the money that was on his plate.
He shouted and used vulgar language. I am happy that by so doing he showed me the way out of the church. I never looked back. Today you have the reason why I do not go to church.
Recently the name Cheryl Zondi reverberate in my ears together with that scumbag Timothy Omotoso, the senior pastor and televangelist of Jesus Dominion International Church.
The abuse received by that young girl and many others is abhorrent, totally unacceptable. That young girl and others went through hell because this country is opened to everything. I watched her testifying but I could not stand what she went through. I could not stand the hard questioning of her.
However, it was encouraging to see her determination to speak openly and speak her mind without fear.
You may crucify me but South Africans like fancy things and foreign things.
Even under the cloud that Omotoso finds himself, he somehow has a lot of support – mostly from women.
But it is good that as the rape trial unfolds, more victims are standing up for themselves and coming forward with disturbing claims relating to the self-proclaimed “man of God.”
I’m reminded of a certain reverend who raped and impregnated children in Khayelitsha and threatened to kill them if they exposed him.
I remember when the whistleblower called the media because the man was to be arrested that night.
We were met with shouts of …fire, fire, fire. Guess by whom? Women. I am not blaming women and I am not saying because they believe in these churches they should be abused.
All I am saying is, let us have control over these churches, whose followers are largely poor, black people.
It is about time that we trust our prayers will reach God without the church’s involvement.
I am a believer – and grateful that God listens to my prayers always.
There is no incorruptible pastor or reverend. Kutsho mna kuwe namhlanje. Black people see no good in themselves, only others. It is sickening to hear about these criminals who call themselves men of God, perpetrating such evils. You ask yourself how many girls and boys are sexually abused. The criminal justice system needs to be strong and act accordingly. And women,
in particular, should learn that not every church building is a church. These guys are evil to the core.