CHRISTIANITY is something cruel and terrible for heartless people.
This was according to witnesses at the hearing held by the CRL Rights Commision into the Kwasizabantu Mission in KZN which started on Monday.
Today's first witness, was former pastor at Kwasizakala, Pieter Becker (47) who left the mission in 2013.
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He said he decided to pray to God to reveal the truth about all the bad things that happened while he was at the mission. He said he wanted to expose the bad things that he experienced there.
"Children were beaten. Black girls were not allowed to have long hair or wear long pants. If they were found doing that, they would be beaten," he said.
"We were not allowed to speak to people who had left Kwasizakala because there was something totally wrong. It was an environment that was unhealthy and it painted a wrong picture about Christianity. When I spoke to some of the children who were disobedient, I realised they were not hating God. They were disobedient because of the church."
He said when he decided to leave he didn't say exactly why he was leaving.
Another witness, a 34-year-old woman who arrived in Kwasizakala as a pupil in 1995 said the experiences she encountered in Kwasizakala made her hate Christianity.
"We used to watch a movie that was called Burning Hell. It was such a traumatic movie that I still fear fire until today," she said.
"When we arrived at the school we were forced to do virginity testing. I was very young. I didn't understand what was being done to us. Other girls were older and were tested while they were having their periods. There were be tissues of blood on the floor. I still remember that to this day. It was traumatic," she said.
She said a lot of girls were molested but they didn't speak about it because they were scared.
"A man would come into the rooms where we slept at night and molest girls. We even named him Njeza. We couldn't see his face but he was there every night.
She said she was left traumatised but she didn't speak to anyone.
"None of the girls spoke about their experiences," she said.
"When I was at home I told my mother I didn't want to go back but I never told her why. I was afraid to speak about everything that was going on there."
She said they were also not allowed to watch TV.
"They used to ask us if we watched TV when we were at home. At first I told them that I watched TV but they isolated me and kept me in a dark room without food. I was hurt by that. I decided to deny watching TV because I was afraid of being locked up in the room," she said.
She said because of all the bad treatment she got from Kwasizakala to this day she doesn't like the Bible and hates Christianity.
"I never told my mother about her experience at Kwasizakala. I only told her last week."
Ben Mthembu, a worker at Kwasizakala said he was employed there as a plumber since 1991 but was fired in 2015 without reason.
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"I was not given any payments although I had worked there for a long time. I didn't even get UIF payments and to this day I've never received any money. I also have an injured hand for which I was never paid," he said.
Chairman of the CRL Commission, Professor David Masoma said what has so far emerged since the hearing began is allegations of gruesome abuse and beatings by people who were on the ground.
"These people were not allowed to tell anyone what happened to them. Today they are finally speaking out because they are seeking healing," he said.
He said their focus is what people went through and what it did to them, so they are investigating that.
"We have invited Kwasizakala. We hope they will join us tomorrow. We want them to tell us their side of the story," he said.
The hearing is expected to continue tomorrow.
