Turning prophets into profits at the root of KwaSizabantu feud

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The KwaSizabantu mission, which finds itself at the centre of sexual assault and abuse scandal, claim the allegations against them are the work of breakaway members of the founder’s family.

The allegations of abuse and fraud surfaced following a report by News24 detailing testimony from several people associated with the mission, which was founded by German-born Erlo Stegen.

This prompted an investigation by the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistics Communities (CRL), which began a three-day probe into the allegations at the northern KwaZulu-Natal organisation, which owns a multimillion-rand farm and water bottling plant.

On Wednesday the mission took members of the media on a controlled tour of its 520ha facility and showcased the private school, its aQuellé plant and fresh produce farm - which up until the allegations surfaced supplied produce to major retailers including Woolworths and Pick n Pay.

“Over the last months we have collected substantial evidence that suggests that this is part of a well-orchestrated plan to take over the mission and its income-generating companies by a group of people predominantly a breakaway part of the Stegen family,” said Drik Combrink, Stegen’s son-in-law, who works for the family business.

Combrink alleged there was a plot to remove the mission’s leadership and those heading up their business ventures. The identify of the family member is known to Sunday Times Daily but has not been revealed until the person is able to respond to the allegation.

Combrink labelled the abuse allegations laid out in a News24 series as coming from a “Fake Witness programme”.

Stegen’s daughter, Ruth Combrink, the general manager at aQuellé, said they would take action against any members of the church found to have committed any wrongdoing.

“It’s immaterial whether they were in the mission or out the mission; if they are guilty then justice must be done,” she said.

There are currently three different panels and commissions looking into the allegations, which include a task team from provincial government, an independent law panel, and the CRL commission.

Last week, several victims testified at the commission that they had allegedly been raped in the dormitories at the KwaSizabantu mission but had not gone to the authorities.

“How do you open a case of rape when you don’t know the identity of the faceless man in the dark? Years went by in these dormitories we slept in and there was a faceless man who used to come in when it’s dark. We gave him a name, ‘Injeza’, and he would come in. And thinking now, it was one of the people who lived in the mission because we reported it and no one did anything about it. Most of us were raped at the time as children,” said one.

My eldest son died at the age of 40 in an accident and a week before he died he came to me and said, Dad I don’t know how long I have to live but there’s one thing that (I want to know), why did they hit us, what did we do wrong?

—  Manfred Stegen

“I hear people now saying why don’t you open a case, but how do you open a case when you don’t even know who was coming in because it was dark.”

One of them was Nomfundo Zondi (not her real name), who spent 13 years as a pupil at Domino Service School, and who testified at the Elangeni Hotel in Durban

“I was abused so much in the name of God. I hate Christianity, God and anything that is including God.”

Zondi told the commission that children were subjected to beatings and constant, inexplicable punishments.

The commission heard that even relatives of the mission’s founder, Erlo Stegen, were not spared.

His brother Manfred, who left the church more than 20 years ago, also testified at the hearing last week that his then four-year-old daughter was left bloody and bruised after a beating.

“My eldest son died at the age of 40 in an accident and a week before he died he came to me and said, Dad I don’t know how long I have to live but there’s one thing that (I want to know), why did they hit us, what did we do wrong? He said they were once sitting in a room and one of the lady teachers came and asked who wants to go to Johannesburg and whoever wanted to go to Johannesburg got a hiding. A week after that he got taken. I was sorry that he had to go into eternity with something he couldn’t explain,” said Manfred.

He said that while he loved his brother, who was once an example to the entire family, Manfred was deeply disturbed by the secrecy behind the mission gates.

“Things happen and the congregation never knew why.”

He testified that his brother was not God or his leader. “My brother has lost it, I laugh at him,” he said with a chuckle.

Manfred said four of the six siblings had left the church and that he, despite several attempts, had been blocked from seeing his brother, who he claims is sick and recently had an operation in Pretoria.

“I have tried now for six months (to see him). I heard that he was very ill and he went to Pretoria for an operation, but I have never been allowed to see my brother. Kumuntu ofayo kufika ngisho isitha sizothi hambakahle (at a person’s death bed even an enemy comes to say goodbye and go well) – why can’t I as a brother go to him and say well done my brother, we have worked together and our paths have parted but we still work for the same boss, maybe not at the same place,” he said.

Meanwhile, the mission said they would be meeting the CRL commission next week after representatives of the mission left the CRL commission when its chairperson refused to recuse himself after he was accused of bias.