WHY NIGERIANS ARE KILLED IN SOUTH AFRICA – Bishop Alex Mwami

WHY NIGERIANS ARE KILLED IN SOUTH AFRICA
– Bishop Alex Mwami

Bishop Alex Mwami of Holy Ghost Fire House, South Africa in this interview with E-life, takes a look at the Church in South Africa and Africa at large and the recent wave of xenophobic attacks and killings in some parts of South Africa. According to the preacher, the evils some Nigerians do in South Africa is much, this ranges from drug peddling and shortchanging their partners in crime to duping and disappointing innocent South African women they promised marriage. The killings, he said, is limited to a few areas. The preachers wants Nigerian Churches, families and government to pay more attention to this drug culture Nigerians are exporting to South Africa. Today, we bring you the first part of the interview, the second part (to be published shortly) will focus on the effects of apartheid, post apartheid complex and forgiveness in the country. Excerpts from the interview conducted by Bola Adewara.

Recently, there was a wave of xenophobic attacks of foreigners in South Africa. What led to it?
Xenophobia was limited to certain locations, not in all South Africa. This was provoked by the exchanging of women and business rivalries like these small shops foreigners were starting everywhere, leading the locals to think they are being shortchanged. These foreigners come to marry the locals in those villages and abandon them later. These locals began to mobile themselves to drive the foreigners out. That was the issue. I can tell you that where I live, no one was killed.
There are many foreigners in Jo’burg who are drug pushers, introducing drugs to the people. They end up provoking the locals because they made a deal with them to share the money after selling the locals assist them in selling the drugs. After selling, they run away. Such bitterness led to xenophobia. South Africa is a friendly country, those immoralities were the causes of the issue.

What information do you hear about Nigerian Churches?
South Africans believe there is a great revival in Nigeria. They also believe there are great men of God there. Many South Africans believe in Nigerian pastors and come the country. Do you remember the number of South Africans who died in TB Joshua’s Church? South Africans believe in using water and oil and other things for prayer and that hope these work for them. They don’t go to Church only to pray and worship God, but for consultation. They come to collect those things which are going to help them in their prayers.  However, so many Nigerian pastors are destroying the image of your country, and I will tell you how. A lot of them come to South Africa, leaving their wives back at home and marry our ladies to get their papers. When they get the papers, they divorce our ladies who assisted them and proceed to bring their wives. This is causing so much enmity in South Africa. Also, half of those coming to South African as Pastors are not recognised as Pastors in Nigeria. They are not pastors at all! They are destroying the names of genuine Nigeria Pastors and Churches in South Africa!

What are the challenges facing the Church in Africa?
The first thing is ignorance! The African Christians do not want to increase their knowledge. Ignorance is the first thing we need to defeat in Africa. Ignorance of whom we are, of what the Bible says about us. My feeling is that we need to understand the role of Africa and the African person in the Bible. Africa is a great continent, greatest civilisation started in Africa. When Jesus was threatened by Herod, He ran to Egypt in Africa. The Garden of Eden is part of Africa. We need to rise as Africans and believe in ourselves without pulling each other down.

Some Africans believe that the Africa man is cursed, way back to Noah who cursed one of his sons. Is the Africa man is cursed?
I don’t believe that the African man is cursed because when Jesus died, He did not die for the white man only. He died for the whole world. Africa is part of the salvation on the cross of Calvary. So, when we say the African man is cursed and the white man is not cursed, it is wrong. When you go into the story of the sons of Noah, they believe it was the coloured man that was cursed but that is not the curse.  The curse was a principle of God and anyone who breaks the principle is cursed, irrespective of the colour of the person’s skin. So, I don’t believe that Africans are cursed.

We have seen many pictures of spiritual misbehaviour across Africa, Pastors telling their congregation to eat grass, snakes, etc. What is the Church doing about this spiritual misbehaviour?
That is exactly what I have been saying. The greatest problem of Africa is ignorance. Though I the act of  those Pastors, but I blame the followers more because the Bible is an open book. If you read the Bible, you will understand what you are supposed to do. A lot of people obey the description of medication. When they are told take this three times a day, they don’t take it four times. But they don’t follow the description of the Bible hence they are been deceived. The Church in South Africa has lost the power of the miraculous so, these people have become Yanga Sangoma, the Spiritists, the native doctors, herbalists. They say you eat grass and it won’t harm you, then that is a miracle. But when I eat grass what is going to happen to me. Jesus never did that.
In South Africa, there is a serious commission called the CRL, Commission for Religious and Linguistics to check the doctrine of the people. I can tell you that a number of peoples will go to jail very soon.

There is the threat of Islam all over Africa; Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al-Shabab in Kenya, etc. Where do we go from here?
Until we get our Christians in positions of power. The thought that preachers should not go into politics must come to an end. We must rise and pray for the nation. We need regenerated spirits in politics. Politic is not a bad game, we can correct it. The idea that people are divorcing everyday does not make marriage bad. In the same vein, politics is not bad.
In South Africa, we are pushing Christians into politics and we thank God that our current president is one. The push from the Church is that don’t compromise your faith, let everyone know you are a Christian and we don’t want to pray 10 prayers in parliament. Let us pray to one God only!

 What is the level of support or understanding between the politicians and Pastors in South Africa?
 The politicians in South Africa know that the Church is influential, that is why they need to bow. The South African Church is not begging for anything from politicians we are self-sufficient so we can tell them what to do. The politicians will tell you what to do when you beg. A beggar has no choice…