Senior ZCC church member and advocate Jerry Koma says leader of the Zion Christian Church Bishop Barnabas Lekganyane and his disciples are imposing burial and accident insurance on church members to make money off them.  Advocate Jerry Koma adds the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) leader Bishop Barnabas Lekganyane and his disciples are taking church members to court to ensure the insurance scheme enriches him and his son Edward Lekganyane.

Lekganyane and his disciples made headlines in May when they took their church members to court to secure their consent to change the terms of their burial and accident insurance policies according to Sunday World. According to court papers filed at the Pretoria High Court, the ZCC leader and his son Edward Lekganyane are asking the court to amend the terms and conditions of the insurance scheme, Kganya Benefit Fund Trust, which is underwritten by Sanlam Developing Markets.

The church members who are beneficiaries of the trust have been paying for the scheme through group policies, and the payments were recorded in the booklet titled Pukwana Ya Kganya, which they received from their branch leaders. The church said because of the changes in insurance laws, Sanlam was unable to continue with the group policies, hence they needed them changed and those who meet the terms and conditions of the amended ones will still enjoy the benefits. The insurance company invited all ZCC members who did not approve of the amendment to file a motion of intention which will be heard on August 3.

Sunday Worlds adds that the letter by Koma says the insurance scheme was a money-making scheme that flies in the face of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural (CRL) Commission’s plea that churches should not use their congregants to enrich themselves. “Save to state that Kganya Insurance is a business, which was not supposed to be imposed in a church such as ZCC, which has majority of poor and vulnerable members… explain further as to why our bishop has established this business in his church while the CRL Commission has warned all religious leaders to stop and/or refrain from the idea of using their congregations to do business, taking advantage of their belief in them.” Koma, who’s a former magistrate in Mpumalanga is also asking why the scheme is forcing married members to have separate Kganya books instead of one.

The advocate adds that the church needs to give members a choice to leave or join the scheme of their own volition and make available the scheme’s financial or bank statements. Zelda Swanepoel of Webber Wentzel denies Lekganyane is scamming his members and says Koma misunderstood the application and the relief. Swanepoel adds Koma’s membership of the trust was voluntary, and he could terminate it any time but has rejected his request for bank statements and said they were not relevant to the application. She also warns him from writing letters to the church and to direct such communication to the law firm as he has no legal basis to oppose the application. Koma insists he will still oppose the application even if Webber and Wentzel seek an appropriate cost order against him.