HUNDREDS of Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD)
Ministries followers recently besieged their leader Prophet Walter
Magaya’s offices in Cape Town, South
Africa, demanding refunds following a botched stands deal.
The followers said they wanted their money back since
nothing had materialised three years after paying deposits.
Through Planet Africa, the investment arm of Prophet
Magaya’s church, the followers were asked to pay varying deposits into a
housing scheme.
In a grey agreement of sale, the investors (who are named
as partners in the agreement) were informed that the stands’ sizes and prices
were to vary and would be determined after the sub-division of the land.
The deposits ranged between US$1 000 and US$4 000, with the
“partners” obliged to pay monthly subscriptions towards the scheme.
With a three-year tenure, the scheme was meant to provide
the first batch of stands early this year but nothing has been delivered.
Prophet Magaya has offered to refund local “partners” using
an exchange rate of 1:1, despite having taken deposits in US dollars since
2016. The preacher has offered the same amount in Zimbabwe dollars.
Speaking through his
spokesman Admire Mango, Prophet Magaya said they were aware of the situation
and would deliver as per promise once coronavirus pandemic eases.
“The lockdowns, not only in Zimbabwe but across the world,
have affected all spheres of life. Once business returns to normal, we will
continue with the housing project,” said Mango.
The housing project, with stands to be availed in Harare
and Bulawayo, saw Zimbabweans investing in the scheme. Besides Cape Town, other
Zimbabweans who invested in the project are in Australia, where a sizeable
number are resident.
The housing scandal comes exactly a year after Prophet
Magaya was accused of sexual misconduct. The PHD leader has failed to clear his
name of the allegations levelled against him by his female congregants.
On July 7 last year, Sarah Maruta and Charity Dlodlo, in
different no-holds barred confessions, alleged sexual impropriety on the part
of the prophet. Their confessions were to open a can of worms as several other
women made similar confessions.
This prompted the Gender Commission of Zimbabwe, a
constitutional body, to issue a Government Gazette on August 23, 2019, inviting
Prophet Magaya’s victims to come forward as part of its investigations to
unravel how widespread the allegations were.
“The Government Gazette was also in line with our mandate
to safeguard gender equality as enshrined in the Constitution,” explained Mr
Tinashe Mazani, the legal officer for the Gender Commission in an interview on
Friday.
However, a month after the gazette, Prophet Magaya was to
approach the High Court (HC7347/19) seeking an interdict as he felt the Gender
Commission did not have the jurisdiction and competence to carry out the
investigations.
He contended that if there were any allegations of rape, it
was the role of the Zimbabwe Republic Police to investigate, not the
Commission. And if the allegations were of an adultery nature, it was not in
the place of the Commission, either, to investigate.
Since the Commission had invited victims to approach it,
“who were coming in, in their numbers”, Prophet Magaya then filed an urgent
chamber application (HC7473/19) on September 6, which was heard on September 16
and judgement delivered on October 22.
The High Court decision was in favour of the Gender
Commission continuing with its investigations. Prophet Magaya was to file a
Supreme Court appeal (SC592/19) on October 30, which was heard on March 10 this
year. The court reserved judgment on the hearing.
“So as the Gender Commission, we are waiting on the Supreme
Court judgement as well as the initial High Court application, both which we
believe will be landmark rulings as they will define the mandate, operations
and scope of independent commissions, not just the Gender Commission,” said Mr
Mazani.
Mr Mazani confirmed to this paper that they had compiled a
number of cases by victims but could not be drawn into revealing the number as
well as identities “as this will jeopardise our investigations, should they
resume if the courts allow us to”.
“We also want to add that investigations into sexual
misconduct, if any, are not only directed at Prophet Magaya as we also have on
our files complaints against other men-of-cloth. This is not a one-man crusade
but from the information that we have, it is a trend within most churches.
“Our argument is basically simple, that sexual allegations
bring disharmony in households, that such allegations are different from, say
fraud allegations. No man would be comfortable with his wife attending a church
where such allegations are rife, which then becomes a nexus for gender
inequality,” explained Mr Mazani. Sunday Mail
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