The embattled KwaSizabantu Christian Mission in Kranskop, northern KwaZulu-Natal, says it has been vindicated in a report by a legal panel the institution appointed to investigate allegations of abuse, rape and money laundering.
The move comes amid a separate probe by the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) into the matter. During hearings – emotions ran high, with some former congregants alleging that they had stopped reading the Bible as the Mission was against Christianity.
Following accusations of bias against the CRL Commission Chairperson, Professor Luka Mosoma, the mission then commissioned its own probe.
The panel has handed its findings over to the mission after interviewing 36 people. In a statement, the mission says the panel found that the mission is not a cult. It also questioned the credibility of evidence by two former members – Koos Greeff and Dr Peet Botha – who had claimed that women were sexually assaulted and raped at the mission. Some of the witnesses at the CRL hearings also disputed allegations that the mission had forced girls to undergo virginity testing.
A number of retailers stopped selling bottled water produced by the mission after the media reports about the allegations.
KwaSizabantu mission in KZN accused of abusing its congregants:
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