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- The SAHRC says its provincial office will investigate the serious allegations of human rights abuse leveled against KwaSizabantu.
- He took the allegations seriously, said SAHRC CEO Tseliso Thipanyane.
- The CRL Rights Commission has asked those directly affected to share their stories to aid in its official investigation.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will investigate serious allegations of abuse directed against KwaSizabantu in KwaZulu-Natal, confirmed Tseliso Thipanyane, CEO of SAHRC.
“What is it [of] The commission’s concern is human rights violations committed in the name of religion, “Thipanyane said Tuesday.
“The SAHRC respects the right to freedom of religion, opinion and belief, however, this right cannot be exercised in flagrant violation of human rights as has been alleged in this matter.”
READ | aQuellé removed shelves at Makro, Game, as Food Lover’s cuts ties with KwaSizabantu companies
News24, after a seven-month investigation, revealed allegations of gross human rights violations and alleged money laundering at one of Africa’s largest missions, founded 50 years ago in North KwaZulu-Natal.
This has resulted in a flood of personal accounts from other former mission members sharing their own traumatic experiences at one of the largest mission stations on the continent.
News24 recently reported on the alleged experiences of six women, who claim to have been raped, sexually abused, abused or assaulted on the mission since the 1980s.
Military
Koos Greeff, a once respected leader on the mission, said he had acted as an informant for the Security and Military Intelligence Branch of the apartheid government with the blessing of the KwaSizabantu leadership.
His alleged manipulator had transferred to the mission in 1994.
The Hawks also confirmed to News24 that Pietermaritzburg’s serious business crimes unit was investigating the fraud allegations at KwaSizabantu.
READ | CRL Rights Commission launches official investigation and urges former members to come forward
The mission has described the accusations made against him as a smear campaign.
The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission), after the launch of the series, had urged anyone directly affected by alleged human rights abuses in the KwaSizabantu Mission to Share your stories to help your Sonda official.
Today a billion-rand establishment, KwaSizabantu owns aQuelle water and supplies fruits and vegetables to the largest supermarkets in the country.
Thipanyane said the SAHRC took the allegations in the News24 series seriously and asked its provincial office to investigate.
“The commission is also pleased to note that the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has also launched its own investigation into the cult and that the retailer Woolworths has also stopped trading with the group in light of these serious allegations.”
KwaSizabantu founder Erlo Stegen and his protégé Lidie Dube are two of the active directors at Emseni Farming, Ekhamanzi Springs, owner of aQuelle, and KSB Trust.
Woolworths, on Tuesday, confirmed that it had “ceased all orders with Emseni Farming while we await further information from them.”
aQuelle, in a letter to its retail clients Monday, said it had appointed an “external panel made up of legal, political, business and grassroots people” to investigate the allegations published by News24.
Massmart Holdings, owner of Makro, and Pick n Pay told Business Insider it had asked the vendor for answers to the allegations.
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