Church Survivors Expose 'Repent and Stay Silent' Code in Parliament

The silence that protected predators for decades finally cracked in Parliament on 26 May 2026. Survivors of sexual and spiritual abuse in South African churches and religious settings stood before the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) and told their stories without apology. Chaired by Dr Zwelini Mkhize, the virtual hearing was not another polite discussion. It was a direct confrontation with a system that has long chosen institutional reputation over broken children and shattered families.

Erika Bornman, author of Mission of Malice and survivor of abuse at KwaSizabantu Christian Mission, delivered the line that should haunt every religious leader in the country. When she reported her abuse as a child and teenager through internal church channels, the response was chillingly familiar: "Repent of the sin of making a man of God stumble and speak of this to nobody, not even your mother." Bornman testified that these exact words are still being said to victims across South Africa today by leaders who know "with absolute certainty that no council, no code of conduct, and no body of their peers will ever hold them to account."

She did not stop there. She challenged the men in authority directly: "These churches have existed in South Africa for decades, some for centuries. Where has that accountability been? Where are the registers of removed pastors? Show us... Show us the cross-denominational records that prevent a predator dismissed from one congregation from being welcomed into the next. Show us."

Jill Harper of We Will Speak Out South Africa and the Faith Action Collective to End Gender-Based Violence described being turned away when she sought help for domestic violence. Her pastor refused to see her because of "geographical parish boundaries." When her abuser later arranged couples counselling at his own church, the pastors told her to "forgive, be more supportive, and submit - as if those words could protect me. They did not ask if I was safe or provide information about shelters, the police, counselling, or legal remedies."

Pontsho Segwai, also from We Will Speak Out, cut to the core of the problem: faith institutions remain among the most influential structures in South Africa, yet too often survivors experience them "not as places of refuge, but as spaces where power can be abused, where harmful patriarchal interpretations are reinforced, and where silence is prioritised over justice."

This was not abstract debate. It was lived testimony from women who had been gaslit in the name of God, then watched their abusers continue in ministry while they carried lifelong trauma. The hearing followed years of advocacy and built on the CRL Rights Commission’s February 2026 conference on gender-based violence and femicide in sacred spaces. For many survivors, it marked the first time their voices received official parliamentary weight.

The CRL Section 22 Process and the Pushback

The hearing was triggered by escalating tensions around the CRL Rights Commission’s Section 22 process. The Commission is developing a voluntary self-regulatory framework focused on ethics and compliance for the Christian sector - not doctrine. Reverend Welcome Methula and others insisted the goal is self-regulation, not state control. Yet religious leaders from groups like the South African Church Defenders and parts of the South African Council of Churches warned of constitutional overreach, procedural irregularities, underrepresentation of women, and vague language that could invite state interference in belief.

Chairperson Dr Mkhize was clear: Parliament is the proper place for these discussions. Existing laws must be fully applied. There was broad agreement that abuse in religious spaces is real, though not the norm, and that an ethical code of conduct led by the religious sector itself is needed. The sticking point remains trust: survivors want independent oversight because internal processes have repeatedly failed them.

Why This Matters for Productive South African Citizens and Families

South Africa’s productive citizens - the tax-payers, business owners, farmers, teachers, nurses, and skilled professionals who keep the lights on despite everything - are tired of institutions that protect the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable. This hearing exposes a pattern we see everywhere: cadre deployment and corruption have hollowed out accountability across government, state-owned enterprises, municipalities, and now, tragically, some faith communities.

When churches become havens for predators because "no one will ever hold them to account," families pay the price. Children grow up carrying shame they did not earn. Marriages collapse under the weight of secret trauma. Communities lose trust in the very institutions meant to provide moral guidance and social glue, especially in townships, rural areas, and tight-knit minority cultural groups where reputation often trumps justice. The result is more broken homes, higher mental health costs, lost productivity, and, for many skilled families, one more reason to consider emigration.

Pre-1994 South Africa had serious flaws, but functional institutions, including strong churches and clear lines of accountability in many sectors, delivered jobs, schools, medicine, and infrastructure for millions. Post-1994, the erosion of those standards - through political interference, weak enforcement, and a culture that rewards loyalty over competence - has left ordinary people exposed in every sphere of life. Religious spaces are no exception. The same impunity that lets corrupt officials loot municipalities lets abusive leaders move from congregation to congregation.

Minority communities, whether Afrikaans-speaking, Indian Christian, Coloured, or other groups with strong faith traditions, feel this acutely. Cultural continuity depends on safe spaces where families can raise children without fear that the pulpit hides predation. When that trust fractures, the damage ripples for generations.

What Real Accountability Requires

Survivors are not asking for state control of doctrine. They are demanding what any functional society should provide:

• An independent, impartial complaints office empowered to receive reports, investigate, and review institutional responses.

• Public registers of removed or disciplined pastors and leaders.

• Cross-denominational tracking so predators cannot simply relocate.

• Full application of existing criminal law - no more "internal processes" that bury evidence.

  
  

The religious sector can and should lead on ethics. But self-regulation without transparency and external teeth has failed for decades, exactly as it has failed in other sectors crippled by cadre deployment and captured oversight bodies. Parliament’s role here is oversight, not interference. Productive citizens should welcome any mechanism that forces powerful institutions to answer for protecting abusers.

Practical Steps for Families and Communities

Do not wait for another committee. Vet leaders rigorously. Ask for clear child-protection policies, background checks, and independent reporting channels before entrusting your children or marriage counselling to any church. Teach children from a young age that no adult - pastor, elder, or "man of God" - has the right to secrecy or inappropriate behaviour. Support survivor-led organisations such as We Will Speak Out South Africa that have done the hard work for years. If you are in leadership, demand registers and cross-denominational accountability in your own denomination. Silence is no longer an option; it is complicity.

The Road Ahead

The 26 May hearing was a breakthrough because survivors refused to stay silent any longer. It proved that when ordinary South Africans with courage speak truth to power, even entrenched institutions feel the pressure. But one hearing changes nothing without follow-through. The culture of "repent and stay silent" must end. Predators must face real consequences. Families must be able to trust sacred spaces again.

South Africa’s productive citizens have carried this country through mismanagement, load-shedding, crime, and corruption. We deserve institutions - governmental and religious - that serve people instead of shielding the guilty. The survivors who stood before Cogta showed what real courage looks like. The rest of us must match it with sustained pressure for transparency, enforcement, and justice.

This is not about attacking faith. It is about defending the vulnerable and restoring integrity to the spaces that should be safest. The registers must be built. The predators must be stopped. And the silence must never return.