A rather bizarre story came out of Johannesburg, South Africa in recent
times. Multiple videos of a well-known pastor started trending on Monday the 5th
of August, the year of our Lord 2024. In these videos the man is seen wielding
two machetes, flanked by another man who is reportedly his protector, wielding an
assault rifle, engaged in what seems to be a violent confrontation. What makes
this encounter bizarre is not only the fact that this is a pastor we are
talking about, but also because ‘this is a violent confrontation taking place on
the grounds of Matshidiso Primary School in Katlehong township, during school
hours’. It is reported that “the pastor and his son were at this school to forcibly
retrieve two of his grand-children, in a custody battle between the pastor’s
son and the maternal family” (Times Live - 6 August 2024: https://shorturl.at/ItCu9).
Given this background story and the fact that this individual is said to be
a pastor, I found myself with very little confidence that the man comprehended at
the time, the magnitude of the multiplicity of crimes that he was committing.
To start with, a school has on average about 600 human beings on its grounds at
any given time in the middle of the term, majority of whom are children, one
can only imagine how all these lives were put in the face of danger. We have
not even started discussing the crime of abduction as it appears that the
children were taken forcibly, clearly against the wishes of their guardian.
Against the backdrop of this event, it is only logical to be curious on two
pertinent questions that directly speaks to the conduct of a pastor. The first
being ‘the role that a pastor must play in resolving a domestic dispute’ and
the second being ‘the ethical standard that a pastor is expected to uphold’. In
a statement issued by The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the
Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights
Commission), the statutory body said “it was regrettable that a religious
leader of Motsoeneng's stature could not look for better alternatives that would
have embodied the values that represent a religious leader” (CRL Rights
Commission – 7 August 2024: https://shorturl.at/s3yqJ).
From the available evidence we certainly can conclude that the pastor failed in
his fiduciary duty to diligently execute any of these two mandates. In the
first instance, sound teaching (theological and otherwise) dictates that a
pastor would have applied basic principles of pastoral care, including
impartiality, regardless of the natural conflict that comes with him being a
parent to one of the parties involved. In the second instance, an obvious
ethical questions arise as a result of a number of obvious expectations,
chiefly ‘the Violent behaviour by a person who is naturally a custodian of peace
in society (a pastor), a basic teaching of theology.
Bongani Bingwa of radio 702 submits a rather interesting question when
dealing with the issue, and so he asks “are South African clergymen and women
equipped theologically, to be able to lead churches and society” (B. Bingwa 7
August 2024; 702 radio), a question which needs to be answered in the interest
of both religion, theology and the secular world, ultimately in defence of Christianity
as a religion at the centre of this bizarre debacle, theology as a discipline
and the secular world as the custodian of the constitution and the protection
of citizens. What we can certainly conclude is that the behaviour of the pastor
clearly demonstrates how under-equipped he is, setting the bar of sound
thinking leaders and formal teaching very low. The fact that society refers to
the individual as "a popular pastor" clearly sets him apart, theology
as a study of religious faith, practice, and experience, reminds its subjects
about “God and his relation to the world”, in other words ‘how those whom he
had called to his ministry, represents him in how they relate with his people,
violence and conflict being unacceptable and non-negotiable. Such acts become
unthinkable if they are to be committed by people of such stature. So just how
then did society allow such a character to assume a position of leadership,
moreover one that is established on the ethical principles and expectations of
"pastoral care"?. The answer may be lying somewhere between the law
makers of the country and the statutory body that is “CRL Rights Commission”,
starting with the reformation of the legislation that governs religious
practices. The “Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of
Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities Act 19 of 2002”, is among other
mandates ‘empowered to make recommendations to the national legislative body
that is Parliament’, my imagination is that these includes “constitutional amendments”.
Therefore, in the best interest of our cultural, religious and linguistic communities,
perhaps a recommendation should be made ‘to amend sections of the constitution
that gives rise to the establishment of churches, cultural and linguistic bodies,
by any individual with or without adequate academic qualification (in the case of
religious leaders, theological training).
What is clear is that South Africa is fertile ground for extreme abuse of
vulnerable members of communities, in the hands of individuals that have come
to realise that 'accountability is not a national imperative', but a by-the-way
principle, reason why impunity is the order of the day, be it through religious
or secular crimes, in fact it has now come to a point where religion is a
vehicle for committing secular crimes, this crime is a case in point. An
individual that has had a number of confrontations with both the statutory
religious bodies such as the CRL Commission and the law over the years, has had
to finally go to extremes of thinking it is OK to simply go to an institution
of learning, wielding dangerous weapons and threaten the lives of others, only
in the mind of an individual whose formation is of questionable standards. Some
may argue that religious leaders are born, indeed there is no argument about
that. However, formation becomes key in ensuring that the gifts are natured and
the teaching on modern thinking and reasoning are instilled, in this case ‘a
religious leader should have acted according to the basic religious principles
taught by both the canon of scripture, theology and some form of pragmatism’.
#MeditationOfTheHeart
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