Zimbabwean based in Cape Town South Africa did a demonstration at Walter Magaya Offices in Cape Town demanding thier money back for payments they gave the man of God so he would buy stands and build houses for them. People paid money over 3 years ago and have not seen the stands or houses promised by Walter Magaya.
Protesters were lined up outside the Cape Town Offices when employees of Magaya got wind of the demostrations they locked the gates so the people demanding their money would not get inside. This story was first reported in March and has picked up storm again see below full story of what magaya did.
Former members of the Prophetic, Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries in Cape Town have accused the church of scamming them out of money they invested in housing and other projects.
Founded in 2012 by Walter Magaya, Prophetic, Healing and Deliverance Ministries is one of the controversial prosperity gospel churches in southern Africa that have lured a multitude of followers. The ministry has branches in Zimbabwe, Durban, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Zambia and Australia.
The disgruntled members had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a subsidiary of the church’s investment arm, giving them rights to a residential stand in Zimbabwe, but the company has neither delivered the stand nor reimbursed their money as promised.
The agreements were signed with Planet Africa, or with its subsidiary Yadah Connect. Planet Africa is described in the MOU as “the investment arm of the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries”.
The MOU says “Planet Africa in 2016 launched housing projects around Zimbabwe to give effect to PHD Ministries’ Redemption Program, whose objective is to see every partner of PHD Ministries owning a house of their own”.
The MOU, of which GroundUp has copies, recorded an offer by “partners” to purchase a residential stand “in any area in Zimbabwe where the seller has acquired and is developing and subdividing the land into individual residential stands, upon completion of such subdivision”. The seller (Yadah) accepted the offer “subject to availability” in the location chosen by the partner.
The price of each stand was to be determined later, depending on location and size.
Meanwhile the “partners” undertook to pay a deposit of $1,000 as a “commitment fee”.
The church promised to allocate the residential stands after the land had been subdivided by the municipality. Meanwhile “partners” were to make further payments over two years, according to what they could afford. In the MOU they acknowledged that the land was not yet subdivided but that they would nevertheless start making payments.
The MOU also states that Yadah had to “service the land within a reasonable time from the date of signature of this MOU” and in any event not later than two years. If the partner did not keep up the payments during the two years, 80% of his or her investment was to be refunded. If, on the other hand, Yadah failed to subdivide the land within the time frame, the company was to pay the investor “the full amount paid” plus 20%.
More than three years later, the members say, the church has failed to deliver a residential stand or to refund their money. GroundUp has not managed to reach the church for comment, in spite of repeated attempts.
Kanonhuwa Daniel is owed $4,000 (about R70,000 at current exchange rates). He invested in the housing project after he sold his cows in Zimbabwe. On 8 November 2019, he was stabbed and hospitalised for about two months. He then requested a refund to buy his family food and pay rent. He claims the Cape Town officials said they could only pay him R23,000. Since then he has been battling to get any money at all.
