Christine Haveford
A South African court has convicted a self-styled prophet who sprayed his followers in the face with insect killer.
Lethebo Rabalago used a common household repellent as a supposed cure for illness.
Rabalago – nicknamed the Prophet of Doom – was found guilty on five charges of grievous assault and contravening chemicals laws.
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The so called pastor literally used an insecticide called ‘Doom’ and sprayed it into people’s eyes and other body parts.
He claimed it could heal people from different diseases – including cancer and HIV.
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“This was a dangerous act.”
The fact that these people were sprayed on their faces with Doom makes this offence the worst of its kind,” magistrate Frans Mahodi said, according to public broadcaster SABC.
“Spraying people with Doom injured victims seriously,” he added.
PHOTO: ANTONIO MUCHAVE/SOWETAN
Photographs of Rabalago spraying members of his congregation with the spray in Limpopo, in the northwest of South Africa, went viral on social media in 2016.
The pastor claimed that some people had been healed of various medical complaints after he had sprayed them.
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Rabalago said at the time he was “glorifying God” by spraying his congregation at the Mount Zion General Assembly (MZGA) church.
“Everything here on Earth belongs to God. Petrol belongs to God. Doom belongs to God,” he said.
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Brand Tigers, which manufactures the well-known household spray, issued a statement calling on Rabalago to halt his ritual healing.
He is yet to be sentenced.
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