WHEN APARTHEID ENDED IN SOUTH AFRICA, THE MEMORY CANNOT DIE IMMEDIATELY – Bishop Alex Mwami

EFFECTS OF APARTHEID ON CHRISTIANITY IN SOUTH AFRICA

… when apartheid came to an end, the memory cannot die immediately
.… So many whites are still arrogant
… anointed water Churches bring to South Africa is a big business

In this concluding part of the interview with Bishop Alex Mwami of Holy Ghost Fire House, South Africa, he takes a look at the pains South Africans went through during the apartheid regime and the effects on Christianity today. He also reflects on his calling and sojourn in the ministry. The interview was conducted by Bola Adewara.

Since apartheid came to an end in 1994 in South Africa, what has been its effect on the South African Church?
Remember when we say Church, we mean people. So, the kind of people that are in the Church will determine the Church, its strength, influence and power. Now, before 1994, the black person was not allowed to live in the area of his choice. He was not allowed to drive the car he desired. He was conditioned and directed to be in the second place. Even in the schools, there was what they called Bantu Education, and this restricted the African man from studying important subjects like mathematics and the sciences. That limited the people and affected the Church. So, when apartheid regime came to an end, the memory cannot die immediately. It gives room for much hatred.

How easy was it for the black man to forgive the white man, especially those that suffered directly under the white man or who watched their parent suffered under them? How easy was it for you to forgive the whites?
Let me be open and honest, it is something you have to make a decision to let go. The pain was very deep because you need to remember that you were not only marginalised from the place where you stayed but even in the transportation you used, the toilet you used; some of the toilets were written No Non-White. You wanted to use a toilet, you entered and from nowhere, a white man will hit you with a broom to drive you out because No Non White was allowed. You boarded the train, the first class was for white people, second class for coloured, third class for Indians and black people. That is why till now, Indians and black people have failed to forgive each other. We are still preaching forgiveness. When Nelson Mandela came out of prison, he said we are not going to bring revenge on the white minority; South Africa belongs to every South African and everyone who lives in it. Let’s make a new South Africa.
By Gods grace, in our Church we have all races as members. We are integrating by promoting forgiveness. But there are other black Churches a white person cannot go up till today. Till now, if a black son marries a white girl, the father can disown him because of the pain they went through. These were people who were hammered on their toes. They saw how some of our leaders suffered. They saw how political prisoners were taken to Robin Island. Then, if you went to the city, you must go with a pass and you couldn’t be in the city for more than 72 hours. If you had no job, you must get a job within 72 hours. If you couldn’t get a job you will be arrested or go back to the village.

How sorry are the white men in South Africa? Have they repented?
A number of them were humbled because of the Black Economy Empowerment. For too long, Blacks were not given the opportunity to start businesses, the Government said to start a business, you must have a white person, coloured person, India person, blind person, deaf person and crippled people on the wheel chair. If a company did not have a person on a wheel chair and no black person and it’s all white, that company would be closed down. This made a lot of them to repent but the repentance is not genuine. There is still a lot of arrogance in some of them. If you have been following news, some of the black people have decided to be merciless to them because some blacks who stole in the white man’s farm were burnt alive in a coffin because they were black. So, black people are rising to destroy them, because of this, South Africans up till now cannot vote a white government. Integration in South Africa is coming at a very slow rate. I will give you an example of the REMAH Church. It was a white only Church but when Rhema decided to call in black people and put them in the position of leadership, all the white people left. Rhema today is ninety-five per cent black people and half of that are Nigerians, Ghanaians, Togolese and Beninese.

Despite these challenges, how did your ministry start? How were you called during the apartheid period?
I was born a Catholic and I come from the boxing word. I was a Bantamweight Champion seven times. I was a sport man but at the age of 17, God appeared to me in Eastern Johannesburg and by then our province was called Eastern Transvaal. It was very difficult to respond to the call of God then because all our senior Pastors were suffering. They could not drive proper cars; they had no Churches in towns or cities. Black people had no proper jobs. They were all regarded to be servants. That is why in South Africa, till now there is a song that says “my mother was a kitchen woman, my father was a garden boy.” That was exactly how things were. So, to respond to the call was very difficult. I went to the University in 1987, University of Debren and a year later I couldn’t stand it. The calling was boiling in me. I left it when I came back home and my father could not accept me again, saying… Pastors are suffering, you want to go and suffer and to bring shame on my family. But I insisted. My father said… if I go to Bible school, he won’t pay my school fees. So, I started working in a white man’s garden through which I raised money to go to Bible School. That was how it started…

Tell me about the Bible School?
I started in 1993, a year before the end of apartheid. The director of the school was an Indian which made it very difficult. There were white, black and coloured students. The whites were cleaning the carpets, Indians, the windows and blacks, uprooting trees. We were about nine black boys in the school and told ourselves that we could bring changes to the province. Let us endure. We uprooted the trees but we continued until we graduated. The good news was that the best student was a black person and I was the second, people who didn’t have the privilege of using a computer! The Lord was gracious; our determination gave us the answer.
By the time we graduated in 1995, apartheid was over so, we all rushed into the big cities which took over 10 years to break the beliefs of the white man. The white minority still believe that the black people were servants which still made it very difficult to be in some cities. For instance, to hire a hall that belongs to a white man, he makes the rent so high that you can’t afford it, so that you go back to the village. I actually had to return to the village because I could not afford town.

How did you break even and return to the city?
While I was there, we empowered our people. The greatest message to them was that… let us not mourn about our past experience. Let us not continue blaming the white man. Now freedom has come, walk in freedom. We were pushing people into education, pushing them into politics so that we could make South Africa a better country. We encouraged people to believe in themselves, so we started having entrepreneurs. This was what saved us in South Africa, because Nelson Mandel introduced Black Economy Empowerment (BEC). So, every black person was told to register a company and the government will give you a good tender like building houses and roads and all that. So, we encouraged people to get involved in engineering and other jobs. Some of them were from our Church and soon, they were able to say let us put our Church in the town. They were able to buy buildings … that was how it all started and the breakthrough started coming. That was around 2010.

What is the move of God in this end time in South Africa?      
Reformation is what we are working on. People who come to South Africa have taken advantage of our economic power having known that the economy of South Africa is very strong. South Africa was the only country that never suffered recession. We don’t know what recession is. Up till now we can’t define it. So, when people came to start Churches, they never came with Word of God. They pushed gift to the people, like prophecies, miracles, selling of water and oil. Did you know that the South Africa Revenue Authority started to charge tax on anointed water coming to South Africa, because it became a big business! So, revival in South Africa is delayed because the Church of the Act of the Apostles, the teaching of the Act of Apostle is not being pushed to the people. So, we are bringing reformation to usher in revival and not all these things they are pushing. Character is been sold in place of charisma. We need God to raise men and women who are morally right, not just prosperity, not just gifts but preaching the gospel of the Kingdom.

What did God called you to do?
God has called me to minister through Holy Ghost Fire House in the area of emotional healing, whereby we are empowering people into raising their mentoring ability so that they get involved in the influential position in the nation. If you are a Christian, you don’t just carry the Bible; you must also study and get a key position in the nation so that Jesus can be glorified. Now, you won’t do that until you are healed emotionally, emotional healing from the apartheid regime.
A South African is a broken human being who needs healing. That is why when you say xenophobia, that is another kind of apartheid. So, we need to heal our brothers and empower our people with knowledge of the Word of God.

Where do you see Holy Ghost Fire House in the next 10 Years
Now, we have eight branches in the Sub Sahara. In the next 10 years, I see us on the five continents of the world. I also see us running one of the greatest academic institutions that will promote Christianity in South Africa because we are threatened by Islam. Moslems are starting schools, we are starting Churches only and the need of a human being is not a Church, its education because education will make you understand the Church and understand the Bible. Without education, you won’t understand the Bible. All the Churches are doing is to start Churches and cell groups. We need to promote academic excellence. So, in the next 10 years, we are going to have academic Institutes where we are going to raise people in different fields and give them the knowledge academically so that we can raise influential people for the kingdom of God.

Will Churches setting up universities not compromise the focus of the Church?
No, it will not compromise. It will enhance it. It will only compromise it if the principles of the university are not promoting Christianity. I believe that as Christians, we must become radicals with our institutes. Once you are in an Islamic institute, you must abide by the beliefs. So, as Christians, we must do the same. But we become too liberal by saying the university has nothing to do with our faith. If it has nothing to do without faith, then you are compromising.