‘Don’t blame pastor for medical student mess’

Sphelele Ngubane

DURBAN: The Threshing Floor Bible Church has denied allegations that its senior pastor was responsible for disrupting the studies of South African medical students in Cuba on government-funded scholarships.

KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo and a clinical psychologist were to jet off to Cuba last night in an attempt to get the students back on track.

The department says a number of KZN students participating in the RSA/Cuban Medical Training Programme spent more time attending Bible studies and various church activities during the night – apparently at the behest of Pastor Sipho Maduna, who had visited the students in Cuba.

The department said of the 740 KZN students in Cuba, 26 failed and 22 faced being excluded from their courses because they had not attended enough lectures.

The church’s spokesperson, Ntokozo Biyela, confirmed Maduna went to Cuba for two days last year at the invitation of a student executive committee from Cuba, but denied he had done anything wrong.

“We are in no way an opportunistic church. The department was aware that he was going there. They tried to stop him but he went because he was invited,” he said.

Biyela said allegations that Maduna ordained or anointed some of the students as pastors and evangelists were false, and he denied that the trip was funded by the students.

“The students might have organised accommodation for him or other things, but it would have been very minimal. As the church, we can even provide the proof of payments for the pastor’s visit,” he said.

Biyela said he did not think that Maduna could have caused the havoc that he has been accused of in just two days.

“There have been many other pastors who have visited Cuba or specifically the medical facility. It is not true that the collapse in the system can be blamed on the visit of the pastor. The stats are there to prove the failure rate isn’t new.”

Asked about the church’s teaching on how people should live, Biyela said it would be foolish of the church to teach students to neglect their studies because of God.

Durban Bishop Vusi Dube, of the eThekwini Community Church, who is one of the pastors Dhlomo consulted on the matter before going to Cuba, said he viewed Maduna as “out of order” and “undisciplined”.

“If he wanted to do missionary work in Cuba, he should not have waited to destroy these students’ future because government has given them an opportunity,” he said.

Dube said if a pastor wanted to go on missionary work, his church had to have a budget and then identify a place for him to visit.