Founder of KwaSizabantu Mission Erlo Stegen has died. Stegen died yesterday after suffering from dementia for years. He was the leader of the church which has been accused of being a cult-like mission since its establishment, based in Kranskop in the Northern part of KwaZulu Natal (KZN) since 1952.

LONG ILLNESS

Stegen passed away at the age of 88. In a brief statement released by his mission, they said:"Erlo Hartwig Stegen the founder and director of KwaSizabantu Mission was destined to hear the call of God at an early age from which he put his hand to the plough and never looked back. God has called his faithful servant home. His life and passion for leading people to Christ inspire us to follow," Three years ago, KwaSizabantu came into the spotlight when a number of people accused the church of cult-like practices and some of physical and sexual assault. KwaSizabantu Mission was ordered by the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) to apologise to its former members for the 'hurt caused' because of its practices.

SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS

They had accused the mission of sexual assault, physical and psychological abuse and financial crimes. This was corroborated by a two-person panel appointed by the mission following allegations of cultism and human rights abuses after an exposé. One of the people who claimed she was sexually and physically abused is the late radio and TV personality Maritjie Bothma, who was popularly known a Intombi Yomzulu. Bothma who grew up at the church testified before the commission that she was made to "suck on the breasts" of Stegen's daughters Ruth Comrick and Elizabeh Vermaak, when she was a child. "When I would talk about it, they used to punish me by putting pepper water in my mouth. I was only five-years-old or younger at the time," she told the commission. Advocate Khumbu Shazi and attorney Peter Le Mottée concluded that KwaSizabantu was not a cult and cleared the mission of wrongdoing regarding allegations of rape, sexual assault, ongoing physical abuse and money laundering. There were also claims that Stegen had employment-related issues at KwaSizabantu as he ran multi-million-rand business enterprises such as aQuelle Water and Emseni Farming.