I recently read an article about the prophet Shepherd Bushiri (33) and his wife who were released on R100 000 bail on a charge of fraud and money laundering allegedly involving around R15-million. I was very interested in this article because I encountered a similar experience with dishonesty and exploitation.
During this prophet’s services, more than 40 speed-point machines circulate among the congregation so that people who wish to pay by credit card are free to use the machines. Meanwhile, baskets are circulated for people to make cash donations.
Those who need special prayer must pay anything up to R1 000 for a seed so that special prayers can be offered. To add power to the prayer, you are advised to buy a bottle of oil for R150 or holy water for R100. To have a one-on-one session with Bushiri, it will cost you a cool R5 000. No wonder it is alleged that Bushiri bought a private jet.
How is it possible that one person can make thousands of trusting and gullible people be so eager to part with so much hard-earned cash, even to the extent that they will be left with no money to see them through the month? Could it be that these prophets have the power to mesmerise the masses? How is this possible?
Yet the congregants are prepared to die for this man, whom they claim is “a man of God”.
No matter what evil or unforgivable sin he may commit, they will continue to see him as an untainted and wholesome person; a man that God sent to them.
As I mentioned earlier, I have been entangled with a similar church stationed in Booysens. There are many similar churches operating mostly by foreigners in the South, attracting thousands of people, some as far as Soweto, Vosloorus and Meyerton. These people are staunch believers that they are travelling on the right path to God.
My mother has been sick for some time; she could hardly walk without being assisted. My sister and I took her to many doctors and bought a variety of medicine which cost us a lot of money, we were desperate to the extent that I became disheartened. A friend of my mother advised us to take my mother to this particular church. She assured us that my mother will be healed by this prophet who had healing powers. We were prepared to do anything that will bring our mother to complete recovery.
We were introduced to the prophet’s assistant and were told that it is not easy to come face-to-face with the prophet, not unless we make a cash donation of R1 000, buy a seed for no less than R500 and a bottle of holy water for R150. To us it’s a lot of money. “We are ordinary workers,” we said. He advised us to use our credit cards, as they have the facility to accommodate whatever card we have. This they assured us will enable us to pay it off in instalments.
We had a chat with our mother and she asked her brother to assist financially. The deal was done and we were quite excited and eager to see our mother recover totally from her illness and to play that dynamic and vibrant role in our lives once again. We followed every instruction the church gave us with great care and enthusiasm. Sadly, as the weeks went by, we could see no changes. We tried to exercise patience and waited for two months, yet still nothing.
We spoke to the church elders for advice and guidance. They appeared uninterested and indifferent. My mother appealed to us to let matters rest. I came to the conclusion that we had been ripped off, not only of our hard-earned cash, but also from that feeling of seeing a family restored to a life of love, care and security.
The grandmother of my sister’s friend, a pensioner, attended one of these “churches” where she was told that she must give a tenth of her pension as a tithe. As time went by, she found it difficult to survive on her meagre monthly pension because of the high cost of living she just could not manage and she requested permission to contribute R60 a month.
The enraged pastor told her that he cannot allow her to do that because the money she gives is for God and not for him and that it is a divine order from God that she gives a tenth of whatever money she receives. When she pointed out the brand new car he bought for his wife he replied by saying that it is because he pays his tithe regularly and God rewarded his wife with a brand new car. This devastated pensioner had no option but to resign from the church because all they preach is money and nothing else.
Concerned citizen of the South
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