Church has role to play in fight against corruption, UJ panel hears

The church has an important role to play in the fight against corruption in the country. 

This is according to three speakers at a discussion hosted by the University of Johannesburg on Thursday. 

The panelists were asked what is the role of churches in a country with high levels of corruption, and why do so many churches have corrupt leaders. 

Rev Prof Maria Frahm-Arp, of the department of religious studies at the university, described different types of corruption in churches, including churches asking congregants to donate the bulk of their earnings with a promise God will bless them with miracles.  

“What is misleading is that you need to give all you have, and who is becoming wealthy in this process, the pastor who has his own plane,” she said. 

She said there were also nebulous forms of corruption where some rites of the church are free, but priests charge for services such as baptisms and money does not go to church coffers. 

“There is borrowing of money from the church but money somehow never gets back.” 

She said just over 30 years ago, churches were at the forefront of fighting corruption but today they are quiet in the fight. 

Prof Mookgo Kgatle, acting chair of the department of Christianity, spirituality, church history and missiology at Unisa, said things would have been better in 2024 if the country had fought against corruption since the dawn of democracy. 

“We have people still living in shacks, people living on the streets, many social ills. If we had dealt with corruption, we would have addressed the problems. Corruption is an impediment to prosperity of the nation,” Kgatle said. 

He said there were "new prophetic churches”, which adopted neo-liberal economic policies of capitalism where "the pastor is up there and the congregation is down there”. 

“We see a pastor collecting and receiving donations and administering donations himself and buying luxuries from church money.” 

Bonginkosi Moyo-Bango, communications director at the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, said despite problems facing the church, there was no other institution that can play the same role in being a voice against corruption.  

“Maybe the church can still be a catalyst to create movement of accountability and moral regeneration,” Moyo-Bango said. 

She said there were many problems that were not named and spoken of in church. These included financial mismanagement. She said this was because material exhibitionism had become a definition of success and opulence and glamour had crept into church. 

“For these things we need money, we want to get money at whatever costs. This leads to improper use of church resources.”

Moyo-Bango said another issue was nepotism and favouritism.  

“Some churches have become family dynasties, where the father leaves his position to his son and all positions are occupied by relatives.” 

She said issues of sexual misconduct and abuse were also swept under the carpet. Voices who wanted to report were silenced and told not to bring shame to the church. In some cases they are bought off. 

Moyo-Bango said there was also a lack of transparency and accountability about decision-making processes in some churches, and this was a fertile ground for corruption to fester. 

However, she said there was a remnant of those who fight corruption and who will promote integrity in their churches.  

“There are many who feel powerless to address it. Others are too afraid to address it because they worry about their ‘own smallanyana skeletons’.” 

Moyo-Bango said church leaders were challenging corruption in the public space. 

She said the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, and Methodist Church leaders, including presiding bishop Pumla Mzimande, were among those who had spoken out against corruption within church spaces and open society at large. 

Moyo-Bango said before the church speaks out, it should make sure its house is clean.  

Frahm-Arp said: “Churches need to think about the extraordinary power we had together when we fought against apartheid. We can still stand together and speak against corruption.” 

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