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Because they were indoctrinated in the church, they followed the leaders and asked no questions. “My father felt like he sacrificed his son for the church,” he said.
Mtungwa said that was just the beginning of his family’s disintegration. His second brother was expelled from the church after he ran away from the church with his friends. After the church tried to rehabilitate him, he escaped to Johannesburg, where he was later shot and killed in an unrelated incident. “If you get kicked out of school or church, then your family can’t accept you,” he said.
Mtungwa said that what haunts her is that her brother died alone. “He died in isolation without a family. He died knowing that his family does not love him,” he said.
He said his third brother also left the church and is currently suffering from psychotic episodes that he believes were caused by abuse in the church. With tears in her eyes, Mtungwa was unable to finish her testimony.
Barney Mabaso, a relative of Mtungwa, She testified that she also disowned her son for writing a letter to a girl. “The fact that you are here with me today is a miracle,” he said.
His son Smanga He came to give emotional support to his father, and told him that he had forgiven him. “It was very easy for me to get over it because he believed in it. He wasn’t doing this to please someone. When he realized what he did was wrong, he came over and apologized,” said the son.
More rules were also put into the limelight, like black girls having to shave their heads and get virginity tests even at age nine.
An information technology specialist who was hired to create the database that runs the infamous Kwasizabantu Mission Church said church counselors formed “incestuous spiritual connections” with church members.
Louis Erasmus, who consulted between 2011 and 2018, said that because many members worked for the church, they would be forced to confess their sins to their direct boss. “If they think you haven’t confessed your sins, then you could lose your job,” Erasmus said.
He said that some employees were also underpaid, with a stipend of R1,000. “It is not a normal relationship between employer and employee. Their boss knows their deepest secrets. Now they are afraid that their darkest secrets will be made public,” he said.
Erasmus said that although he was treated very well, he witnessed people being expelled from the church after being accused of not being “truthful” in their confessions.
When asked by the chairman of the commission how the councilors knew that people had not made a truthful confession, he said: “They need to feel that you are open, so they think it is enough.”
A woman who grew up on the mission said a church leader had written a derogatory word on her naked body when she was just a child.
Maritjie bothman She also claimed that she was sexually abused and raped.
Bothman, who spoke of a life full of abuse, said there were times when she was also locked in a closet for weeks. as punishment.
He also corroborated what other former members said about corporal punishment at his school.
“He would come to school with wet hair and the teacher would mop the floor with his head,” Bothman said.
She eventually escaped with the help of a friend, but ended up on the streets of Johannesburg, where she was often raped and assaulted. She said that she was eventually stabbed 16 times and gang-raped.
“The effect Kwasizabantu has had on my life … I am a nobody and I have nothing. When I get something I lose it … you took my life and you took my education, “he said.
Bothman said he doesn’t want repairs but rather an apology from the church.
The commission will give the church an opportunity to respond to all the accusations.
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