A Limpopo mother is angry with a pastor after her son used money meant for his tertiary education to make an "offering" at a church.

Mumsy Mmaboko's son took the R50000 his estranged parents had saved since 2013, and gave it to the Mount Zion Bible Church International in GaMakgoba village, 40km east of Lebowakgomo.

Phumzile Thobejane, 21, completed matric last year and was supposed to use the money to study at Jeppe College in Polokwane.

His mother was outraged when she learnt what he did with the money. She works as a volunteer for a social-upliftment NGO in the village.

Mount Zion church leader, Henry Mampa, told Sowetan he used the money to buy bags of cement meant for the building of the church.

Zuma is not my friend - pastorA man of the cloth whose church yesterday partnered with a bank that gave President Jacob Zuma a R7.8-million loan to repay the Nkandla debt said he had no close ties to Zuma. 

He also bought musical instruments and equipment, including guitars, drums, speakers and microphones.

Mampa said he saw nothing wrong that Thobejane could no longer pursue his studies due to lack of funds.

"I never asked for money from Thobejane. He just volunteered it to the church to help it as a vision from God," he said.

The 50-year-old man of the cloth said his church was established in March 2015 and currently had a membership of between 90 and 100.

He said Thobejane told him that God had sent him to donate whatever money he had to the church.

Mampa said he never convinced Thobejane to make the offering "because I knew he was not working".

"Thobejane told me he got money from his biological father and that he decided to do what God had told him to do - which was to give it as an offering."

Mampa said he did not consult Thobejane's parents because he believed the money was a blessing from God.

"When God tells people to give offerings to the church I don't question," he said, adding that other members had donated materials towards building the church.

But Mmaboko, was not convinced.

"Pastor Mampa stole my son's money. We have struggled a lot saving money for Phumzile to afford tertiary studies, only for the money to go down the drain," she said.

The 38-year-old mother said she and Phumzile's father had transferred the money into their son's bank account thinking he would put it to good use.

Mmaboko wants Mampa to return the cash.

"I confronted Mampa to demand my money and he told me he was not going to give it back because he never asked for it from Phumzile."

The mother said she was worried that her son's future was doomed because there was no other money to take him to school.

"The pastor must just return the money or else we want all the equipment [the church] bought with our money."

However, Phumzile is adamant that God spoke to him to make the offering.

"I don't regret what I did because as a Christian I go by faith and believe that God will give me more one day," he said.

Pastors, churches should desist taking from poor

Chairwoman of the Commission for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Cultural, Religions and Linguistic Communities, Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, said yesterday it was "unethical" for pastor Henry Mampa to accept the R50000 from an unemployed youth.

She said: "Pastors need to start thinking critically about the impact they have on the lives of their young congregants. They must be responsible enough to want to know where young people get the money from and what it was intended for than to put the interests of their churches first."

SACC provincial chairman, Reverend Awedzani Nemaukhwe yesterday also said: "Churches or pastors must teach responsible giving. You cannot allow a young, unemployed child to offer such huge monies to your church ,"

He said they encouraged churches to desist from accepting huge monies from orphans or poor congregants without understanding the source of monies.

"It's very unfortunate for a pastor to behave that way because pastors have a role to make sure that orphans and poor people are taken care of," he said.

frankm@sowetan.co.za