South African churches denounce pastor who sprayed congregants with pesticide

A faith-healing pastor was denounced by several South African churches after he allegedly sprayed pesticide to his followers in one of his healing services.

Lethebo Rabalago, a pastor of Mount Zion General Assembly (MZGA) in the Limpopo province, sprayed a pesticide called "Doom" on his congregants claiming that it could heal people who are suffering from cancer, HIV and other illnesses, Newsweek reported.

"God can do anything, God can use anything. If God can use oil, God can use water, God can use anything," the pastor exclaimed.

The South African Council of Churches, which represents 36 churches and religious organizations released a statement on Thursday to condemn Rabalago's action.

"There is rampant abuse of the religiosity of poor communities by unscrupulous Doomsday prophets that emerge either as poison practitioners or money-sucking extortionists, who prey on the faith of the desperate and the ignorant," the statement read.

The group known as Freedom of Religion South Africa, which claims to represent 99 denominations and churches, also issued a statement denouncing Rabalago.

"While we believe that the Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ healed people of all manner of diseases and ailments...He always did so in a way that protected their dignity as human beings made in the image of God," the group stated.

Tiger Brands, the manufacturer of Doom, has described Rabalago's actions as "alarming and extremely concerning."

The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) urged the people who were sprayed by Rabalago to report their experiences.

The CRL stated that there should be a complaint against the pastor before they could initiate an investigation about his unconventional religious practices. The commission said that they have spoken to some of Rabalago's followers but they refused to file a complaint.

In response to the outrage, The MZGA posted photos of Rabalago spraying himself with the insecticide on Facebook.

The incident involving Rabalago is just one of many reported cases of South African pastors using unconventional methods in their ministries.

Lesego Daniel, the self-proclaimed prophet of Rabboni Ministries, he told his congregation to drink petrol. He also instructed his followers to eat grass and flowers, according to a report from the BBC.

Penuel Mnguni, pastor of End Times Disciples Ministries, was dubbed as the "snake pastor" after he fed snakes to his followers while claiming that they have been turned to chocolate.