Man apologizes to Bushiri for protesting against him

A man reportedly visited Shepherd Bushiri’s Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church recently and “confessed” to be party to the Pretoria protests that demanded Bushiri to leave the country and the church to close down. The protests followed a stampede at the church which killed three people.

ECG church spokesperson Maynard Manyowa alleged at the time in an interview with the SABC that there were people in “high chairs” who were serving their own agendas by inciting protestors to target Bushiri.

One of those apparent protestors seems to have come forward, after apologising to Bushiri. The man reportedly “confessed” to burning tyres outside the church gate for three days.

“My name is Praise Ceba and I am originally from Lesotho. I have come forward to seek forgiveness for being part of the protesters who protested against Major 1. In the fire of the protest, I was shot in the mouth, by the police, for talking too much. I was arrested and since then my life has been in a mess. Nothing is working,” the church’s website quoted him as saying.

Ceba, however, realised he had wronged “a man of God” after the trouble in his life and thought of asking for forgiveness in the hope of improving his fortunes.

Bushiri further encouraged his followers on Facebook to forgive the man, a request which was well-received by many.

“I forgive all those who wronged against ECG church and prophet and prophetess. More especially, media that kept lies running fast. Not forgetting those bogus Photoshop editors that ran fake picture and shared with City Press-News24. We forgive you. SABC, eNCA, TIMES-LIVE, etc. We forgave you (sic),” said Trevor Apia, while Margaret R Holder, who has a top fan rating, wrote: “Yes, Papa, I choose to forgive all those who everywhere have already condemned you, judged and given the verdict on this case. I really choose to forgive them, for Christ’s sake. And seeing your great example, I can only allow God’s love to flow through me to reach out to the haters, gainsayers, and naysayers. Always in front of us. For God so loved the world! Thanks again dad for your example. You are truly a statesman dressed in Heaven’s love.”