If it is true that religion is the opium of the masses, as Karl Marx described it in his political economy theories of the 19th century, then this might help to understand the phenomenon of prosperity gospel – and its negative impact on societies such as South Africa.
Since the dawn of democracy in 1994, South Africa has steadily attracted an assortment of prosperity gospel churches, many of which are run by foreign nationals who do not have their own formal infrastructure but depend for worship on the use of disused or abandoned buildings in cities and towns – deserted by their owners, or hijacked by unscrupulous shady “property owners” who let them out to foreign nationals as if they were the rightful owners of such properties.
This is understandable. Foreigners, many of whom came into the country by illegal means, want to make a living, and one of the few legal options open to them is to establish a church structure to allow them to work towards attracting a “captive clientele” in the form of congregants from whom they will extract exorbitant amount of money as church tithing for “services rendered” with a promise that if they contribute generously “God will bless them with more returns accruing into their bank accounts”.
Poor and vulnerable communities are susceptible to being easily conned because the objective is to escape poverty and different kinds of suffering, including unemployment, and to transition to a promised “better life” by these prophets-cum-conmen.
Biblical texts that refer to prosperity that accrue “to those who generously donate to the work of the Lord” are quoted by the con-prophets to encourage more tithing and donation from vulnerable community members.
By their nature, churches whose focus is on prosperity gospel, are conservative and have links with Pentecostalism and evangelicalism, with a bent to charisma-tic tendencies.
The gospel that is largely preached is to “liberate the converted from life of illness and poverty through devotion and positive confession” – and more generous tithing and “giving to the Lord”.
But two years ago, then minister of home affairs and now minister of health, Aaron Motsoaledi, sounded a death knell on foreign pastors and prophets and other foreign religious leaders.
Motsoaledi pronounced the department would no longer provide work or residence permits that allowed them to stay in the country legally.
To the home affairs portfolio committee, he said: “Foreign national religious workers will no longer be eligible for a work permit.”
But the work of the so-called pastors has been intensifying. Ten years ago, more than 116 guests died at the Synagogue Church of All Nations building in Nigeria, owned by pastor TB Joshua.
Among those who died in that tragedy were South Africans who attended the event organised by the late evangelist because, in the words of the enthusiasts, “We are attracted to the ministry of TB Joshua, and we will follow him wherever he goes.”
A government inquiry into the accident revealed that the collapse resulted from structural defects, and that it had been built without permission, and that TB Joshua had been warned of “serious structural defects” but poured cold water on the contents of the report.
It was also claimed that to lessen the impact of the damage, Joshua “hid dead bodies and intimidated families to cover up his role in the collapse of the building that killed 116 people”.
Sadly, the evangelist, although told that the building was “swaying”, turned a deaf ear.
The collapse of the church building is regarded as one of the worst church disasters in Africa’s history.
Another prophet who has a constant presence in our news mill has been Timothy Omotoso, a Nigerian national who heads the Jesus Dominion International. He is facing 32 charges in the Gqeberha High Court, including racketeering, trafficking in persons, rape and sexual assault.
Prophet Shepherd Bushiri, a Malawian, fled the country with his wife at a time they were facing fraud charges involving R102-million investment scam, this was after they were granted bail.
He too fleeced gullible followers who believed in his story that if they contributed generously to his own financial cause, the “kingdom of God will be theirs”.
In our own backyard, in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, members of the Incredible Happenings, led by prophet Paseka Motsoeneng, popularly known as pastor Mboro, are not fazed by his arrest. To them he is a messiah.
Marx’s wisdom is needed to save the world from religious nonsense.
- Mdhlela is a freelance journalist, an Anglican priest, an ex-trade unionist, and former editor of the South African Human Rights Commission journals
