Shepherd Bushiri: Meeting the man who ‘walks on air’

But that wasn't the worst of it - the report also found that there was a prevalence of unsafe practices in some of them which included making congregants eat rats, snakes, grass and drink petrol, all in the name of proving their faith.

There were also allegations of sexual abuse in some instances.

But what makes South Africa such fertile ground for bogus churches?

"South Africa is still an unequal society but some people have found some success," says Ms Mkhwanazi-Xaluva.

"At the end of apartheid many people were expecting to live like their white counterparts, that is what they thought freedom was and so when you continue to live in poverty, that makes you vulnerable to anyone who promises to have an answer for you."

"South Africans are still hopeful of the Nelson Mandela dream but that makes them gullible and this is what these bogus pastors prey on," she adds.

But religion is a thorny issue, one that largely relies on individual choice.

So although South African authorities are aware that some churches are not acting in the best interests of their congregants, who dares take on anyone's God? Or his messengers?

By Pumza Fihlani, BBC News, Johannesburg

SOURC: BBC News
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