Pertoria - The misappropriation of funds and souring of relationships within the Anglican Diocese of Pretoria stemmed from the mistrust in the church and the uproar over the firing of a priest.
So testified former St Alban’s parish council member and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) employee Clement Sibiya on Tuesday. He was the first witness on Tuesday in the lawsuit by retired Bishop Jo Seoka against five church members, in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria.
Sibiya said the relationship between Seoka, the former head of the Anglican Diocese of Pretoria, soured in 2010 following the bishop’s insistence on firing priest Nkosinami Nkomonde.
In a letter addressed to Nkomonde, Seoka allegedly said he had no placement for him. In response to the letter, Nkomonde took the matter to the council. Dean Livingstone Ngewu requested that Bishop Jo retain Nkomonde until an alternative job could be found for him.
Sibiya said: “The dean wanted to distance himself from putting another out on the streets without a job or a place to stay. Everyone was of the view that putting Nkomonde out was un-Christian-like.
“The dean even offered to write Nkomonde’s referral letter as he was of the opinion that the bishop was on an unjust warpath. The only thing we knew was that Nkomonde had just been diagnosed with diabetes,” he said. This stance saw Dean Ngewu being taken to task by the bishop, he said, on charges of insubordination and undermining the bishop’s authority.
For a legal tribunal looking into the charges brought against Ngewu, Seoka then allegedly withdrew R138206 from the parish funds for legal representation without proper authorisation being sought.
Sibiya said that despite repeated attempts to query the “misappropriation” of the funds, the council ended up seeking legal advice from suspended NPA boss Vusi Pikoli in 2012.
He told the court that the council members met at Pikoli’s home to seek legal advice. He informed them they had three possible options.
The first was to try to resolve the issue within the church’s structures, second, to appeal to the bishop regarding their concerns and third, to report the matter to the police if they were of the opinion funds were stolen.
Sibiya said: “The council was of the view that we had exhausted the first two options and we decided to go to the police as a group. But the police asked us to have one person come in with a written complaint supported by all.”
Seoka is claiming R600 000 in damages for alleged defamation; R500 000 for damage to his reputation and R100 000 for the damages suffered to his dignity.
He is claiming the money from Sibiya; counsellor of the Parish of St Alban’s the Martyr, Sibusiso Mnguni; church warden Randy Phasha and priests Nkomonde and Dinga Mpunzi.
He claims in court papers that his good name and reputation were tarnished by the defendants, who in 2012 signed and issued a document, titled Articles of Presentment, accusing him of misappropriating R162092 of the diocesan trust fund.