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- IFP founder and president emeritus Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Saturday that he considered the founder of the KwaSizabantu mission, Erlo Stegen, a friend.
- The reverend was also one of the guests at Buthelezi’s 90.th birthday,
- Buthelezi said the mission had served him for 40 years.
KwaSizabantu, the KwaZulu-Natal mission at the center of reports of sexual abuse, physical violence, misconduct, virginity testing, racism and patriarchy, has been described by IFP founder and president emeritus, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, as a “bright light of community development and industry.”
Buthelezi said it was “devastating to see this institution condemned and damaged before anything has been proven in court.”
“There are many lives involved here. We need to be sensitive to all of them,” he said Saturday.
“The truth will emerge. Let’s be patient and pray for everyone involved.”
In a lengthy statement, Buthelezi, who regarded mission founder Erlo Stegen as a friend, said the recent allegations of human rights abuses were a “devastating shock.”
“It is difficult to know what to think and how to react, because this case is complex and convoluted, it involves very serious accusations, not only of physical and sexual abuse, but of money laundering, covert assistance from apartheid, cultism and serious human rights violations, ” he said.
Is it all true? Is it a smear campaign? Is it a plot to facilitate a land grab? Until official investigations are completed and any evidence has been proven in court, we cannot know. It would be irresponsible, and just plain wrong, to find someone guilty before being tried.
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 resulted in a flood of personal accounts from other former members of the mission who shared their traumatic experiences at the mission station.
News24 recently reported on the alleged experiences of six women, who claimed to have been raped, sexually abused, abused or assaulted on mission since the 1980s.
In addition, Koos Greeff, a once respected leader in the mission, said that 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 handler had transferred to the mission in 1994.
The Hawks also confirmed to News24 that the Pietermaritzburg Commercial Crimes Unit was investigating allegations of fraud at KwaSizabantu.
The mission characterized the accusations made against him as a smear campaign.
Today, a billion-rand establishment, KwaSizabantu was trying to handle the fallout in the arms of its mission, while boycotting the aQuellé water, produced by Ekhamanzi Springs and owned by two members of the mission leadership, gained strength.
Last week, Woolworths confirmed that it had “ceased all orders with Emseni Farming,” a mission-owned vegetable supplier, while waiting for more information from the supplier.
Massmart Holdings, owner of Makro, pulled Quelle off its shelves, while Pick n Pay told him Business Insider had asked the supplier for answers to the allegations.
Buthelezi, who, in his statement said the party did not receive funding from the mission, said he and his family had received “spiritual support and advice on how to grow our own vegetable crop” from Stegen and the mission farmers.
Stegen was also one of the guests at Buthelezi’s 90th birthday, News24 reported.
Buthelezi said that he had been ministered by KwaSizabantu for 40 years and had never had “any reason to question the biblical teachings, motives or ministry of the mission.”
He continued:
My wife and I began attending services regularly and I became friends with Reverend Stegen. Our friendship has lasted for forty years and has provided us with spiritual support in our most difficult times. When my wife and I mourned the loss of five of our children, he mourned with us. When my wife died, he too was saddened. And when we celebrated the milestones, Reverend Stegen shared our joy.
Buthelezi said that asking people to boycott KwaSizabantu products in order to financially collapse it is “tremendously irresponsible” as it would affect the livelihoods of thousands of families.
“I’m not saying we should look the other way. And indeed, no one is looking the other way, because KwaSizabantu is now the subject of intense investigations.
“We must support the women who have spoken to News24, giving heartbreaking testimonies of sexual and physical abuse. We pray that the full truth will be revealed through the investigations now initiated by the police, the South African Human Rights Commission, and the Commission for the Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Linguistic and Religious Communities “.
Police investigations into the money laundering allegations would show whether there was “any wrongdoing” and who was involved, he said.
“But until then, the accusations cannot be assumed to be true. I don’t mean this lightly.
“My wife and I sent most of our grandchildren to Domino Servite School to be educated at KwaSizabantu. The school has a reputation for producing excellent academic results and, understandably, for being strict.
“It was precisely for these reasons that we chose him. In fact, two of our grandchildren were expelled for breaking the well-known rules.”
The mission was being investigated by the South African Human Rights Commission, the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission), as well as the KwaZulu-Natal department of social development .
