Minister has stringent conditions for homophobic US pastor’s SA visit

THE Department of Home Affairs yesterday said it would be attaching “serious conditions” to the homophobic US pastor, Steven Anderson, when he visits South Africa later this month for a “Soul-Winning Mission”.

This comes after the SA Human Rights Commission petitioned Home Affairs to ban Anderson from the country.

Widely known for anti-gay sentiments on social media, Anderson is scheduled to preach in Johannesburg on September 18.

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said the department had considered carefully the SAHRC petition with 60 000 members’ signatures, and the position of the lesbian, gay, bi- sexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community.

“If it is his intention to visit South Africa again, it would be in his interest to behave in accordance with our laws,” Gigaba said. “There will be serious conditions attached to this visit; we will not hesitate to deport or charge him for wrongdoing.”

Anderson recently reportedly told congregants at his Arizona-based Faithful Word Baptist Church there were now “50 less paedophiles in this world” after the June 12 massacre at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that left 49 dead.

“We will not fold our arms in the face of intolerance, hate speech, and rights violations of any kind,” Gigaba said.