Radio Islam and Agencies | 12 Rabi ul Awwal 1437/12 December 2016

The controversial Limpopo pastor who told congregants to drink Dettol claiming that it heals sickness, says he gave the instructions because the detergent was anointed.

‘prophet’ Rufus Phala of AK Spiritual Christian Church in Moletji, outside Polokwane says although consuming the substance is dangerous, in his instance it would not kill people, as he suggested he was doing it “through the power of God”.

Phala claimed his actions to be analogous to Jesus[PBUH] turning water into wine.

“It’s Dettol but immediately after God touches it, it’s anointed. It can change from Dettol to water or from Dettol to juice.”

Phala who is a mentee of pastor Lesego Daniel, who once ordered his congregants to eat grass and drink petrol, says he also practices what he preaches.

“When I drank it, it was pineapple juice. One man was using crutches but after drinking it, he stood up and walked.”

He also claimed he has been getting WhatsApp messages from people who say they have been healed.

“I know Dettol is harmful, but God instructed me to use it. I was the first one to drink it,” he claimed.

Responding to this latest controversy, Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba said while she appreciated the role of religion and respected people’s rights, she could not fold her arms and remain ambivalent to the killing of others in the name of religion.

Ramathuba said her department was concerned about the misdemeanors of ‘miracle’ ministries, with Phala being the second church leader in recent weeks who had sparked an outcry for bizarre religious practices.

In November photographs emerged of Pastor Lethebo Rabalago spraying Doom insecticide in the faces of his congregants

The MEC said they were dealing with these matters seriously.

“This is a disinfectant that we use in our households and it was meant to kill germs just like Doom was meant to kill insects. We are really worried because we’ve been seeing stories of what is happening that you end up many of our people in ICU.”

Dr Mabowa Makhomisane, a general practitioner, told the Daily Sun that Dettol is harmless when mixed with bath water or when cleaning a wound.

“But if it goes into your stomach and gets absorbed into your body, it decreases the amount of oxygen in your system. This might cause you to collapse and die.

“If you vomit the liquid into your lungs, it causes aspiration pneumonia.

“Your lungs will get swollen and you won’t be able to breathe.”

Expressing “repugnance about the practices” of both pastors‚ the Chairperson of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural‚ Religious and Linguistic Communities‚ Mrs Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva‚ on Friday said she strongly condemned these actions.

She assured the public that ultimately the recommendations contained in the commission’s upcoming report “will go a long way to address these kinds of issues”.

The CRL Rights Commission‚ which has undertaken a study to investigate the commercialisation of religion and the abuse of the people’s beliefs systems‚ on Friday urged religious leaders “to ensure to give their inputs and responses to the report so that the proposed legislation on the peer review mechanism can be expedited before anything horrible might happen to anyone”.

As part of this study‚ the commission had to call a number of Pastors‚ Prophets‚ Priests‚ Religious leaders‚ Jewish‚ Hindu‚ Muslims‚ African Traditional Religion‚ Rastafari‚ and Bahai. Amongst its work to try to gain an understanding of the deep societal thinking that makes some members of our society vulnerable and gullible with respect to views expressed and actions during religious ceremonies.

“The CRL Rights Commission encourages everyone whose rights and beliefs have been violated to report such to the Commission‚” it said in a statement.

“As a Commission‚ we categorically state that no one should be subjected to conditions that are detrimental to their health and wellbeing.”