HE HAD big plans for his December bonus.
And when a man of God convinced him to invest in his investment scheme to double his money, he trusted him.
SO DOCTOR MKHONDO GAVE THE PASTOR HIS DECEMBER BONUS AND SAVINGS.
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But all he has to show for his “investment” is a Bible the pastor gave him.
This after the pastor, who they knew as Pastor Jacob Zungu, gave Doctor the Bible to read every day and pray afterwards so that the investment would make him rich quicker.
But when January came and Doctor was supposed to get his money, Jacob was nowhere to be found.
“I don’t know how it will help me now,” said the 44-year-old from Wattville, Ekurhuleni.
Doctor said he gave the pastor R40 000 from his stokvel, R30 000 from his savings, and his R28 000 December bonus.
“I’d planned to buy a car in December for an Uber, but when the pastor said I could double the amount in January I thought it was a win,” he said
“I thought I’d buy the car and have change, which I could use to renovate the house.”
Jacob was nowhere to be found when it was time to pay.
“He promised we’d have the money by 5 January. The 5th came but I couldn’t find him on the phone.
“I thought something might be wrong with his phone and tried the following day with no luck.”
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He realised he’d been scammed.
“I didn’t know the pastor, where he came from, his family, and who he really was,” he said.
He believes the pastor used muthi on church members so they could trust him.
“We’re Zion and hold services in the home of one of the members.
“The pastor, a prophet, arrived at our church in February and had a vision about our church.”
The pastor lived with the family where they held church services.
“We accepted him as he looked like a good person. He was humble and powerful in prayer,” he said.
“Sick people were healed when he prayed. His preaching was also powerful.
“He knew his story. More and more people attended our church and we were happy.”
Jacob apparently never took any money from them.
“He always said he was sent by God to help and didn’t need to be paid for it,” he said.
“We all had faith in him, but he showed us his true colours and fled with our money.”
Doctor believes that’s how he operates.
“I want to warn others not to fall victim to him. He probably targets small churches and robs them,” he said.
Doctor said he’s left with the Bible and doesn’t know whether to destroy it or continue reading it.
He’s not the only one who was scammed by the pastor.
Seven more church members said they gave him money in December, expecting double in January. One member said he gave him R70 00, while others gave him less than R50 000 each.
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The church members didn’t open a case as they gave Jacob the money willingly. They said God will deal with him.
Thokozile Mdunyelwa (56), whose house hosts the church services, said she and her granddaughter were happy when Jacob started to live with them.
“He was so responsible. He cleaned the yard and helped with many things,” she said.
“We trusted him and never expected him to do such. He never showed any signs of being a crook.”
She said Jacob left in December, saying he was going home in Mpumalanga. “I didn’t know he had people’s money. He bought us a lot of groceries before he left,” said Thokozile.
“I didn’t know where he got all the money from and I didn’t ask. I’m disappointed that he stole it from our church members.”
Daily Sun tried to contact the pastor, but his phone went to voicemail.
