By Inside Politics Reporter
The South African Church Defenders (SACD) group has formally lodged a complaint with MultiChoice and its DStv platform over Moja Love’s ‘Fake Pastors’ programme, accusing the show of humiliating clergy and promoting hostility.
In a letter submitted to MultiChoice’s Corporate Affairs and Content Compliance Department, the Christian advocacy group said the show, hosted by social activist Sihle Sibisi on Channel 157, “misrepresents Christianity, humiliates pastors, and promotes public hostility toward the church”.
SACD said it was calling for “the immediate suspension and review of the show”, demanded that Sibisi be suspended from her role as host, and that a public apology be issued.
“The said programme, while purporting to ‘expose fake pastors’, has systematically portrayed Christianity and the pastoral office in a manner that is defamatory, prejudicial, and ethnically reprehensible.
“It has gone beyond investigative journalism and crossed into the realm of public persecution of the faith, violating both the dignity of individuals and the broader religious community,” said SACD in its letter to MultiChoice.
SACD said the “tone, presentation, and framing of Fake Pastors” was not designed to inform or protect the public, “but to ridicule the church and to create suspicion and hostility toward legitimate ministries”.
The show has stirred controversy due to its confrontational format and alleged sensationalism of religious figures.
Sibisi’s aggressive style has drawn strong pushback from church groups.
In the show, she is seen confronting individuals portrayed as fake pastors – an approach that has led to formal legal action, including a defamation suit by one pastor who was labelled a “witch” and “false pastor” after an ambush-style segment.
Sibisi has been described as a “survivor” of the popular Nigerian televangelist TB Joshua, who died in 2021 at the age of 57.
Joshua and his Synagogue Church of All Nations megachurch – where alleged “miracles” and “miraculous healings” were broadcast to his millions of followers – were exposed as frauds by the BBC in an extensive investigation in 2024.
After his death, US foreign policy think tank The Council on Foreign Relations described Joshua as “an example of an African religious leader who, within his own country, was probably more influential than any political figure”.
SACD said in its letter to MultiChoice that investigating genuine abuse was “commendable”, but that the “tone and approach” of Fake Pastors “cast a broad and unfair shadow over Christian ministry, risking the implication that all or most pastors and churches are deceitful”.
SACD said it was not calling for a boycott “at this stage”, “but we hereby place MultiChoice and Moja Love on notice that if this conduct continues, we will mobilise believers across South Africa to unsubscribe from DStv”.
SACD has also taken aim – along with myriad Christian groups – at the Council for Religious and Faith-Based Organisation’s (CRL) Section 22 Committee.
That committee has been described as a “peer-review” mechanism for accountability in the Christian sector, but SACD claims the state is trying to regulate Christianity through the CRL.
“The Church of Jesus Christ is not a government department and should never be subjected to licensing, registration, or external regulation by state bodies. The SACD stands firm: Our faith, our leadership, and our worship are accountable to God alone,” it has said publicly.
In 2017, the CRL published its report “Commercialisation of Religion and the Abuse of People’s Belief Systems,” which triggered intense debate. The report was referred to the parliamentary COGTA committee, which did not endorse the CRL’s then proposal to license and regulate religion.
Instead, as the parliamentary report found, religious denominations had successfully self-regulated, and the CRL was not the proper body to supervise them. The Section 22 committee is viewed by many Christian groups as the state now again trying to regulate the Christian sector, despite its failed previous attempt.
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