South Africans’ faith in Prophet T.B. Joshua did not start this year. Many of them have long seen in him the miracle worker and this cuts across all classes. Famous figures, such as Mrs Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, count among those who have paid homage to the Arigidi-Akoko, Ondo State-born pastor, writes Olukorede Yishau
The information on the church’s website is enticing. Many in a difficult situation are bound to see in the church the answer to their problems after reading its claim that the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet T.B. Joshua can cure anything from HIV/AIDS to cancer.
“Divine healing is the supernatural power of God bringing health to the human flesh,” says the church on its website.
It adds: “Thousands who come oppressed with sickness and disease receive their healing at the Scoan. Truly, there is never a sickness Jesus cannot heal.”
The claim that Joshua can cure anything is buttressed with videos showing people who have allegedly been healed of all kinds of ailments. The lame walk. The deaf hear. Cystic fibrosis disappears and HIV and Aids are “miraculously healed”. These are lavishly advertised on the website.
Pictures, they say, don’t lie. So, pictures are also judiciously used to prove that people who were suffering one ailment or the other are now free.
The claims are not exhausted yet. Another is the claim that 100 years before Joshua was born in Arigidi-Akoko on June 12, 1963, his birth had been predicted. The church also claims he was in his mother’s womb for 15 months.
Says the church on its website: “Significantly, almost a hundred years prior to his birth, it had been prophesied that a young man would emerge from the poor Oosin quarters and that God would use him mightily.
“Another remarkable event occurred when he was three days old, as a large boulder crashed through the roof of his house, missing the baby by mere inches.” This is said to have been responsible for his mother christening him Temitope.
These flowering claims, no doubt, sold this man, who was unable to complete his secondary education due to poverty, to many far and wide. South Africans rank among this group. That explains why many of them were in the church premises last Friday when its guest house caved in for reasons yet to be ascertained. President Jacob Zuma said no less than 67 South Africans have died. But, this figure is tentative. It could be more, says a South African official.
Zuma’s spokesperson Mac Maharaj told the SABC yesterday that the government believed that around 300 South Africans from four to five tour groups were visiting the church last Friday, but it was not clear how many were on the spot when the tragedy struck.
Maharaj said: “It has been difficult in getting the news and information. Our figures are based on information received from family and friends, and the high commission in Nigeria. It is subject to change as things go on.
“There have been delays in getting the information. We don’t have the figures of those injured. Sometime during the day we will be better placed on the information and the public will be informed.”
Make no mistakes; it is not only poor or middle class South Africans who see in Joshua the messiah. Even the high and the mighty fall at his feet too. The legendary Ms Winnie Madikizela-Mandela ranks among South African powerful figures who have bowed before Joshua. She was interviewed on Joshua’s Emmanuel Tv in 2011 after her visit and she had nice words for the church.
The country’s opposition leader Julius Malema has also sought out Joshua to help with spiritual backing for his party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Malema was defending the church yesterday, telling the South African Press Association (SAPA) that elders of the church were helping with rescue operation.
The EFF leader said: “I am in touch with the elders of the church. They are doing everything in their power to ensure that every individual that was there is accounted for and that the rescue mission continues.”
South African sport celebrities had also approached the prophet. They include Springbok rugby players Joost van der Westhuizen, Ruben Kruger and Wium Basson. There are conflicting reports about whether another rugby player Jaco van der Westhuyzen approached Joshua for help to cure a form or motor neurone disease. A report, in a South African online publication, said: “TB Joshua, known around the world as the “prophet of God”, previously prayed for Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks Joost van der Westhuizen.” But, a family representative Odette Schwegler said yesterday: “Joost van der Westhuizen has never gone to Nigeria to meet this prophet and he hasn’t engaged with him and he hasn’t sought his help.” He has been down with the disease since 2011 and is expecting death, as predicted by doctors.
There is no controversy, however, that Basson came to Lagos to see Joshua. Basson died at his Pretoria home on April 21, 2001. He was 25. Basson, who played for the Blue Bulls, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Doctors could not do anything to help him and gave him a few weeks to live. He flew to Lagos, to consult Joshua. Like the case of the victims of the collapse, Basson also came with a tour group of 130 people to see the ‘miracle worker’. But, for some reason, he could not see Joshua after waiting for hours on a queue. He returned home and died almost immediately.
“He (Basson) did not know the Lord as well as he should have at that time. If your faith is not right, the Lord will tell TB Joshua not to heal you,” claims Westhuyzen, who said Joshua healed him when he ruptured his posterior cruciate ligament during a match in 2000.
In an interview with UK Observer, Westhuizen said: “Sure, I believe in miracles. I’ve seen them with my own eyes. From an early age I was very religious. Both my parents were Dutch Reformed Christians. But it was not until 2000 that faith healing and TB Joshua, the Nigerian they call ‘the Prophet’, came into my life. I had just broken into the Springbok team when I ruptured my posterior cruciate ligament playing against Western Province one Sunday in August 2000. The doctor took X-rays and said I needed to have an operation that Wednesday. I was really down, because I desperately wanted to go on the end-of-year Bok tour.
“Here I must give credit to my wife…She, or rather her brother, had shown me this video of the Nigerian faith healer TB Joshua. I saw all the miracles he performed, such as curing people with HIV, freeing people from their wheelchairs, healing those with cancer. My wife said to me: ‘You’re pretty religious. Your faith is strong. I think you should give it a go.’ I was sceptical at first and I wasn’t too sure about the miracles. I read about them in the Bible but I thought: ‘Can this be true?’ Still, I decided not to have the operation and to take a leap of faith instead.
“Our church group landed in Lagos on a Sunday. We drove for about 45 minutes before coming to a very basic church site – 10 people to a wooden bench. It was just phenomenal to see how primitive Christianity can be while at the same time remaining so powerful. At each service, there are between 10,000 and 20,000 people, mainly poor blacks. Their riches are their faith. At five o’clock in the morning, there are 3,000 people queueing outside the church gates to get the best seats.
“For the first few days we had discussions with the disciples and talked about religion and its power. Then, on the Saturday, ‘the Prophet’ came out and delivered his message to the congregation, even though there were people in the church, scared of his powers, who wanted to kill him. It was a real eye-opener. But these doubters could not get near him. He said to us: ‘There’s somebody here who wants to kill me.’ If the guy does not come forward, the Prophet will identify him and the person ends up confessing to what he was planning.
“Towards the end of the service about 300 of us gathered in what they call the ‘healing line’. The Prophet walked down the line, identifying illnesses. When he came to me, he said I should remove my leg brace. He looked at me and it was like he had x-ray vision, like he could see immediately what was wrong with my knee. Moving his hands around as if he was tugging a rope, he seemed to pull out all the dirt and other stuff that was in my knee. Then he said to me: ‘Stand up and run.’ The brace had been on for weeks and running should have been impossible. Well, I trusted my faith and started to run – and at full speed. There was no pain.”
Back home he had another x-ray, and it showed the ligament was fine. The doctor, he said, could not believe or explain it. News of what happened started to spread and Kruger’s wife called him to see if he could take her husband, who had a brain tumour, to see Joshua. He agreed.
According to Westhuyzen, “We went back to Lagos, Ruben’s brain tumour was healed and he has had no more symptoms since then.”
But, Westhuyzen was wrong about Kruger. The symptoms came back and he died in Pretoria in January 2010 after battling brain cancer for 10 years.
Malema said despite what happened, Joshua remains a great man, who should continue to inspire hope. He said he was at Synagogue for seven days, adding that at the time, no less than 16 000 people were in attendance at the church “and 50 per cent of those were from outside Africa”.
He said: “Yes, I was there to create friendship and take lessons from the prophet. He is my brother, we talk now and then. I also received spiritual guidance from him. The church is very big, he has a lot of followers. He receives people from all corners of the world, both rich and poor. They go there for different reasons and they all want to be blessed by the man of God.
“When I was there I was treated very well. The hospitality is so amazing. The people who looked after us there did it with passion. They love what they are doing and they respect people. We also would like to say to the prophet that he should find strength during this difficult time. This is a testing time for him.
“He is a very good man. He inspires hope in hopeless people. We hope he will not be discouraged. He must continue to inspire hope and feed the children of God. When I went to his church, he never asked for a cent from me. TB Joshua never preached about money and he never insisted on having contributions for the church.”
But, it is not every South African who is not asking critical questions like Malema. President of the Rhema Family Church and the co-chairman of the National Religious Leaders Council, Ray McCauley, expressed concern that information was “only beginning to surface now” days after the collapse.
He said: “We are in mourning and would not like to start pointing fingers. Be that as it may, we urge both our government and the Nigerian government to get to the bottom of this unfortunate incident so as to assist the families to bring closure to their pain by at least understanding what happened.”
Condolences
Religious leaders, citizens and organisations expressed their condolences yesterday.
Founder of Gift of Givers Imtiaz Sooliman said: “Gift of the Givers offers its heartfelt condolences to the Nigerian, South African and other nationalities that lost family members in this terrible tragedy.”
Sooliman said a South African had asked his organisation to find her brother who was at the Synagogue when it collapsed on Friday.
He said: “Whilst we have referred her to Dirco (Department of International Relations) and the Nigerian Embassy, we requested our representatives in Nigeria to try and trace this relative and check on the well-being of other fellow South Africans.”We have asked the team leader to co-operate with and complement the efforts of the SA Embassy in Nigeria. The team leader is eagerly awaiting a flight on standby 500km away, but two of his staff should be at the hospital within the next hour.”
EFF condoled with the families of the deceased. Its spokesman, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, said: “The EFF sends its revolutionary condolences to the families and friends of 67 South Africans who have lost their lives. The EFF also sends its revolutionary condolences to the other families from the rest of the world who have lost loved ones in this tragedy. Our hearts and prayers are with you.”
The director of the South Africa Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) , Wendy Kahn, described the incident as a tragedy for the continent.
She said: “The SAJBD commends the South African government on its efforts to assist survivors and to ensure that the remains of those who died are timeously repatriated.”
