Foreign pastors fleecing locals

Foreign self-styled pastors operating in SA are coining it from congregants by flouting banking rules, avoiding taxes and moving funds out of the country irregularly, according to a report by the Commission for Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities.

Foreign self-styled pastors operating in SA are coining it from congregants by flouting banking rules, avoiding taxes and moving funds out of the country irregularly, according to a report on religion.

The Commission for Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities released its long-awaited report on Monday, in which it raises alarm that SA’s myriad churches are incorrectly regarded as nonprofit organisations even though their annual turnover often exceeds that of ordinary companies.

“Some religious institutions tell their [congregants] that money has to be paid to their head offices and, as we discovered, most of these head offices are based outside the country.

“Some religious leaders do not apply to the Reserve Bank before money is repatriated out of the country,” reads the report.

Some institutions lacked governance structures and systems — including disciplinary committees, independent finance committees and internal succession plans — leaving members vulnerable to extortion. “Some pastors apply for a different type of visa, like a visitor visa or a temporary visa and yet once inside the country they demand a permanent residence visa. Some foreign religious leaders misuse the South African visa application processes,” says the report.

The commission also took aim at what it calls “illegal and unethical” advertising on the part of purported traditional healers and religious leaders, including some who promise to treat infertility, bad luck and financial troubles.

As much as R250,000 was extorted from some victims.

The commission stopped short of calling for the state to regulate religion, but instead recommended that religious communities regulate themselves “more diligently” and in line with the Constitution.

Richard Mdakane, chairman of Parliament’s portfolio committee on co-operative governance and traditional affairs, said in a statement on Monday that the commission would on Tuesday brief the committee in detail about the report.

Mdakane said he agreed with the report’s core question about whether religion had become “a commercial institution or commodity aimed at benefiting only a few”.