Service becomes medical crisis
20 collapse after drinking ‘pink substance’
AN EASTERN Cape pastor has been accused of giving members of his congregation engine oil to drink in order to rid them of demonic spirits and witchcraft.
On Thursday, 20 members of the Favors Church received medical treatment after falling sick during a service led by Pastor Phumzile Topie at the Mthatha Town Hall.
One of the 20 was taken to hospital while the other 19 were treated on the scene by paramedics.
Eastern Cape department of health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo confirmed the incident and said that some of the victims had started vomiting.
Kupelo said bottles containing a “pink substance” had been found at the event and were taken for testing.
However, when contacted for comment Topie said the liquid was “red grape juice” and accused leaders of other local churches of spreading lies about him in a ploy to get rid of him.
Topie, who introduced himself as “Izwi Le Zulu” (the voice of the heavens) to the Saturday Dispatch, described the accusations as a lie.
In a text message he wrote: “I want to put on records (sic) that the information is a lie, wrong, incorrect and misleading.”
Explaining his side of the story, Topie wrote: “The correct info is; during our end-ofthe-year farewell deliverance and holy communion service thousands of people attended.
“Holy communion in a (sic) form of red grape juice was given to the willing congregants to drink as part of deliverance prayer and process.”
He said a sample of the “juice” had been handed over to department of health officials at the scene.
Topie said people suffering from various ailments were helped during the service.
“More than 60 people vomited strange objects as witchcraft was leaving their body,” he said.
“More than 400 people got healed and many demonic oppressed people where (sic) set free and delivered in Jesus name.”
He blamed the misinformation on a group of local preachers who had come to the service with “evil intentions”.
He said they had accused him of taking their church members and threatened to close down his church.
“They called the police, ambulance and EC department of health and made false accusations against me, against my father Bishop Comfort and against the church. It’s the same preachers who went to the media and accused me of giving the congregation poison.”
Reverend Zolisa Mqamelo of the Ministers Fraternal in the O R Tambo district was one of the first people to arrive on the scene.
“What we have seen is an abomination,” said Mqamelo. “People were vomiting, screaming in pain and the pastor [Topie] was nowhere to be found.”
Mqamelo said members of the congregation had told him they were made to drink engine oil or “something like that”.
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said they had opened an inquiry into the incident. Fatyela said they would only know what the liquid contained once tests had been completed.
Earlier yesterday Topie told a Dispatch reporter he had not fled the church after the incident as had been alleged.
He also said it was not the first time he had given his congregants something to drink.
Topie is the second pastor to come under fire in the space of a few weeks after a Limpopo pastor was accused of spraying his congregants with Doom in order to “heal” them. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za