‘Prophet’ Lethebo Rabalago healed his congregations with Doom insecticide
‘Prophet’ Lethebo Rabalago healed his congregations with Doom insecticide
A South African court has fined a self-styled prophet who sprayed his followers in the face with insecticide as a supposed cure for illness. Pastor Lethebo Rabalago was found guilty by a court in the northwest region of Limpopo.
He faced five charges of grievous assault and contravening chemicals laws. He used “Doom”, a household insecticide on his followers, earning the sobriquet “Prophet of Doom”.
What did Pastor Lethebo Rabalago get charged with?
The Sowetan daily reported Wednesday that the presiding judge jailed Rabalago to four years or a R21,000 ($1,700) fine.
Mookgopong magistrate Frans Mahodi‚ handing down sentence‚ ordered Rabalago to one year in jail or face the fine for contravening the Stock and Agricultural Remedies Act 36 of 1947‚ which deals with pest control operators.
After he was convicted‚ Rabalago’s mother told the court in mitigation of sentence that she would follow her son to prison if he was jailed.
Lawyer Edmund Lubusi said Tuesday his client would pay the money.
“We have made an arrangement that my client will pay R3,000 in instalments every month until the fine is fully paid,” Lubusi told the paper.
Caught out on social media
Photographs of Rabalago spraying volunteers at his church in Limpopo spread on social media in 2016.
The pastor claimed that some people were healed of various medical complaints after he had sprayed them.
However some suffered the effects for several months.
“It was an act of glorifying God” – Pastor
Rabalago said at the time he was “glorifying God” by spraying his congregation at the Mount Zion General Assembly (MZGA) church.
“Everything here on Earth belongs to God. Petrol belongs to God. Doom belongs to God,” he said.
Brand Tigers, which manufactures the spray, had issued a statement calling on Rabalago to halt his ritual healing and stressing the dangers of using their product on humans.
[AFP / Sowetan Live]
