“Omotoso, who was declared an undesirable person in April last year as he was leaving SA of his own accord.”

“Shortly before his departure, he was acquitted of a series of sexual assault charges after a trial that ran for years.”

“The SIU found that Omotoso used fraud and misrepresentation to gain entry into, and subsequent residence in, SA.”

“His initial entry was secured through a fraudulently obtained work permit, issued in a country where he was not a citizen, based on an unauthorised directive.”

“Another Zambian-born pastor... managed to convince Home Affairs to provide him with a late registration of birth, falsely claiming that his parents were South African.”

“A Nigerian pastor... eventually paid her R4,000, and when the SIU spoke to her she did not know where the pastor was.”

“The SIU found that several documents submitted to Home Affairs by this pastor were “an obvious forgery”.”

“SA’s 2024-2028 National Security Strategy, released in July 2025, officially classifies the “mushrooming of charismatic churches” as a high-level threat to national security in SA.”

“The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) in 2017 confirmed allegations of the mushrooming of charismatic churches commercialising religion and exploiting people’s belief systems.”