Johannesburg - Embattled Sandton senior pastor Andre Olivier, whose sermon two Sundays ago stirred debate on social media for its racist undertones, has issued a statement refuting the claims that there is no black pastor at his Rivers Church.
Olivier’s sermon sparked debate on social media, for its alleged offence and racist remarks.
He told his congregation that blacks were lazy and that God had sent whites to help blacks.
Some congregants expressed shock at his comments about white people deserving their wealth because they work for it.
He was quoted as saying “if you want to know why white people still have money, it is because they work”, and that “white people aren’t bad, it’s black people that are lazy”, among other things.
Last week, the church brought an African pastor Chris Mathebula, who is the Founder of Hope Restoration Ministries in Chloorkop (Kempton Park), who preached on forgiveness and encouraged the congregants to contribute towards nation-building.
Olivier rejected the notion that the church brought in a black pastor for damage control.
He also rejected allegations that his church has no black pastors after The Sunday Independent sent him questions regarding the structure of his Rivers Church which has been in existence for more 20 years. “Rivers Church finds the tone of the questions offensive and misleading and rejects outright any suggestion of further racism.
Pastor Andre has dealt with the matter of his past comments, regrets them and has apologised for them. “Rivers Church has a multi-racial staff, with the leadership team diversified in terms of both race and gender, reflecting our congregation and the community we serve. We will not allow this newspaper or anyone else to smear the work we do and our commitment to the spiritual welfare of our community, through unfounded accusations that are merely race-baiting. “We urge all media outlets to focus - as we are doing - on issues that unite us rather than divide us,” said the church in a statement.
Meanwhile, the commissioner at the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, Dr Anton Knoetze, said they are still waiting for their legal department to advise them on the way forward on whether or not to subpoena him (Olivier).
The Sunday Independent