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Rev. Peet Botha testifies before the CRL Commission as part of its investigation into allegations of abuse at the KwaSizabantu Mission.
- Former KwaSizabantu mission member Reverend Peet Botha expressed “grave concern” about the “frequency of rapes” at the mission, as well as the way the mission handled these crimes.
- Botha testified at the CRL Rights Commission on Thursday during his time in Gauteng.
- He said that he had referred to 10 cases of alleged rape and sexual assault that occurred at the mission.
The controversial handling of the KwaSizabantu Misison church of the alleged crimes of sexual assault committed against its members was the focus of attention of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) on Thursday.
A former member of the mission, Reverend Peet Botha, testified of his “grave concern” about the “frequency of rape and sexual immorality” in the mission and his “lack of empathy” for the victims.
The CRL Rights Commission met for its second day of hearings in Gauteng, following its week-long stretch in KwaZulu-Natal last week.
A former member of the KwaSizabantu Mission testified before the CRL Commission that he witnessed how some people seeking help for drug addiction at the mission’s rehabilitation center were “beaten until they peed their pants.” | @azarrahk https://t.co/Mp1UtrNEMQ
– News24 (@ News24) October 15, 2020
Botha appears in News24’s Exodus exposed, but now apparently faces charges of criminal defamation and crime of injury brought by the mission, he said.
“I guess this is the price I will have to pay for speaking openly about people like [KwaSizabantu Mission leader] Lidia Dube and others at KSB, “Botha said.
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In his presentation to the commission, Botha said that he had referred to 10 cases of “rape, sexual immorality, adultery, incest and sexual harassment” based on personal experience counseling these victims and their families.
Botha expressed “grave concern” about how KwaSizabantu had handled these matters.
READ HERE | Pastor tells CRL investigation that KwaSizabantu has a track record of ‘avoiding liability’
“The fact that the KSB leadership questions and despises the victims for being silent, [for] not yelling at being raped as the Bible supposedly teaches, or not going to the police to report rape or immoral sexual acts, shows an alarming level of lack of understanding and lack of empathy for victims who have to deal with feelings of inferiority, guilt, shame, and a male-controlled environment in which she like [a] the woman is exploited, abused and neglected. “
He said the mission had prejudged the victims “each and every time” by using a blanket denial.
News24 has received two letters asking consumers to reconsider not buying Quellé water after allegations of human rights abuses at the KwaSizabantu Mission. Https://t.co/LUuD9k345E
– News24 (@ News24) October 13, 2020
In her testimony, Botha gave three examples of these 10 cases, including the case of a girl who had allegedly been raped by two men who had put a knife to her throat.
“Later the two men tell her not to speak because they know her, but she does not know them. If she speaks, they will kill her. Their faces were covered with ski masks.
“A few months later, she overcomes her fear and reports it to her KSB counselor. She is not believed. She should have screamed because that’s what the Bible says a girl should do, they tell her. She didn’t scream, therefore, it is implausible and it is not true, “explained Botha.
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He added that the young woman tried to tell another mission adviser, but again they did not believe her.
“It begins its downward spiral into an abyss of self-loathing and hatred for God. He has attempted suicide five times.
“All of those who were informed of this are still senior co-workers at KSB. She doesn’t want to talk about what happened to her anymore. She says the fact that she didn’t get help or mission support is actually worse. than rape for her. “
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Another woman who had allegedly been raped by a pastor on the mission in 2009 but was denied help “amid great fear.”
“She cannot speak because they will kill her if she speaks,” he said. They told him they would shoot him if he said a word. Ask for prayer. He came many times after that. Together on Sundays, we have cried many tears, “said Botha.
He added that he reported the crime without her knowing it, but nothing happened.
SEE | Inside the KwaZulu-Natal government tour of the controversial KwaSizabantu mission
“Nothing ever happened except that every now and then she receives ‘comfort money’, as she told me, from the perpetrator and his family. He remains a co-worker and leader at KSB to this day.”
KwaSizabantu withdrew from the commission hearings last week, saying they wanted the president to recuse himself.
The mission had previously said that many of the allegations relate to specific individuals, and not the mission as a whole.
They were due to appear before the commission next week.
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