Evil deeds, among them, hypnosis, money laundering, fake prophecies and sexual violations against congregants happened at the church.
Statements made by victims appearing before the CRL commission in Braamfontein, Joburg, on Tuesday, about the Rivers of Living Waters Ministries suggest it is not a church, but a cult.
Among the witnesses, two of Archbishop Stephen Zondo’s sisters, told the packed room how Zondo raped them and killed their parents.
A former church member, Solly Poopedi, said he left the church last year when Zondo started plotting to destroy his marriage.
“He enticed my wife with lies claiming she would become a prominent businesswoman without me. When she divorced me, I woke up from the dreamy thoughts that Zondo was a perfect Man of God,” he said.
Poopedi told stories of how Zondo raped members to retain power with satanic rituals.
“The man sexually abused woman just so he could have power. He slept with women as sacrifices. He feeds on blood. His church has more women than men because he sleeps with women to grow in his kingdom,” he said.
Poopedi said Zondo also slept with men from the church.
The visibly angry man said some of the MECs, ministers, political leaders and actors were under his spell.
“Our wives and kids are sexually abused. Help us to stop what Zondo is doing,” he said.
Meisie Reaname, Zondo’s sister, broke done in tears as she told stories of how the pastor raped her repeatedly, starting when she was 10 years old.
She said it happened when their gogo, who was an inyanga, went to the fields to get muthi.
The weeping woman told the commission that Zondo called her to their grandmother’s bedroom and told her to climb on the bed.
“He took off my panties and pulled my legs. He stripped naked. The smell in the room remains in my nose,” she said.
“The memory of the blue underwear he wore haunts me to this day.”
Reaname said when she screamed, he stopped.
“He wiped me with a cloth and told me to not tell anyone what happened. He gave me R1 and sweets and told me to go play with the other children,” she said.
“To this day, I can’t face him. There have been many funerals and weddings at our home that I missed out on because of him.”
Mosoma said the purpose of the hearing was to hear the stories of the victims.
He said Zondo would also get the opportunity to come before the commission to give his side of the story.
“This is a new terrain for us as CRL to be discussing so much spiritual topics. We need to dig deeper. We need to study this,” he said.
“We promote the rights of cultures but congregants must not suffer at the hands of their church leaders.”
More former congregants gave their testimonies.
At the time of publishing, Zondo had not responded to the questions sent to him regarding the allegations levelled against him.
