“We will cause havoc” warn disgruntled church members
Former Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries members lodge formal complaint with Human Rights Commission
Former members of the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries protested outside the church’s office in Bellville on Thursday. They accuse the church of scamming them out of money they invested. Photo: Tariro Washinyira
- Former members of the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries protested outside the church’s office in Bellville on Thursday.
- They accuse the church of scamming them out of money they invested in housing and other projects.
- They have now submitted a formal complaint against the church to the Human Rights Commission with help from the South African Council of Churches.
About 30 former members of the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries protested outside the church’s office in Bellville on Thursday.
The disgruntled members accuse the church of scamming them out of money they invested in housing and other projects. They have also since submitted a formal complaint against the church to the Human Rights Commission with help from the South African Council of Churches (SACC).
On 25 March GroundUp reported that the members had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2016 with a subsidiary of the church’s investment arm, giving them rights to a residential stand in Zimbabwe. But the company has neither delivered the stand nor reimbursed their money as promised. The church was founded in 2012 by Walter Magaya.
On Thursday, protesters sang and danced in front of the church chanting: “Magaya you are evil, you are a thief. We want our money” and “We will cause havoc that no church service will ever happen here again.”
The protesters also chased away a woman who had come to the church to give her money for tithing after showing her receipts of the money they had lost.
One of the protesters, Stanley Mudzingwa said he invested R40,000 for housing and has been battling for two years to get his money back from the church. “We are losing money coming here all the time. Our group has grown from seven to about 50 people. We have mobilised each other because when we come individually, the office staff harass and threaten us.”
Webster Chimboora said he invested $3,000 (about R50,000). “My car was repossessed after I failed to pay instalments because my focus was on the housing project instalments. The housing project meant a lot to me and my family.
“The contract I signed said Magaya should pay me if he fails to honour his promise but he sent a message saying he would deduct money from me. Why is he deducting money from me? I didn’t receive the house. He is the one who didn’t honour the contract.”
The church’s spokesperson Admire Mango did not respond to multiple attempts from GroundUp to get comment.
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