Cheating pastor faces chop from church

THE Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) in the Eastern Cape region has condemned the actions of one of its pastors, Oswell Ngcongo, 50, of the Divine Intervention Centre, who confessed to being in an adulterous relationship with his secretary, Thelela Ntsini, 38.

Ngcongo is facing the chop from the church for breaking the church’s pastoral code of conduct, AFM regional chairman Pastor Johannes Welskit confirmed yesterday.

In a statement sent to the Dispatch, Welskit said that the pair’s spouses and their children, whom they left behind, were receiving counselling and support from the church.

The runaway pair shocked their spouses, Eunice Ngcongo, 50, and Vuyani Ntsini, 42, weeks ago after writing to the church announcing their romance. Church members said the two had been spotted once at one of the church’s Durban branches.

The Saturday Dispatch reported on July 1 how Ngcongo, who is also a popular presenter on Christian radio station Link FM, left his co-presenter wife, listeners and the congregation in the lurch to start a new life with the married secretary in Durban.

The adulterous pair’s disclosure of their affair to the church ended a prolonged meeting about allegations of their actions. Yesterday the couple’s phones rang unanswered.

Welskit said: “The Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa wishes to register its disappointment by the actions of the said pastor, who is truly one of the ordained pastors of the church.

“This has been an embarrassing situation ... as it’s a breach of the pastoral code of conduct, an injury to the good name of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa and a blow to the power of the gospel. We wish to publicly condemn the actions of Pastor Oswell Ngcongo as they are not in line with the Bible as the Word of God this church subscribes to ....”

He said appropriate actions were underway to deal with Ngcongo.

Contrary to reports that the pair ran away with hundreds of thousands of rands in church funds, Welskit said the money was a gift from the church and was not stolen. —