Ex-VBS boss Robert Madzonga now a ‘holy spirit-anointed’ Divine Healing and Deliverance apostle
Madzonga says he was 'anointed' as a pastor in 2015 after the 'spirit of the Lord' came upon him.
‘Apostle’ Robert Madzonga. Picture: Divine Healing and Deliverance Ministry/ Facebook
Former disgraced chief operating officer of VBS bank and group executive officer of Vele Investments Robert Madzonga has now reinvented himself as an “anointed, holy spirit- appointed” apostle who leads a Johannesburg-based church called Divine Healing and Deliverance Ministry (DHD).
Madzonga resurfaced on Facebook on 2 June and started sharing videos of himself suited up and sharing the word of the Lord with his followers.
His sermons appear to have received a warm welcome from followers, who commented “Amen” and “True papa”, among other words of affirmation.
In one of his sermons, Madzonga addressed his critics and those questioning his calling as a man of God.
Madzonga revealed he was “anointed” as a pastor in 2015 after the “spirit of the Lord” came upon him and proclaimed him one of the men chosen to lead God’s people.
He said: “They always say ‘We don’t know which Bible school you went to. One thing we also don’t know is who appointed you as a pastor. Since when are you a pastor?’
“They send me a list of so many questions: ‘Who appointed you?’ I did not even want to answer most of the questions. I gave them only two answers: I was anointed as a pastor in 2015 and the spirit of the Lord came upon me and I was saved by the grace of God…
“You may be someone who has been humiliated, you may be one of the people who is called ‘the other one’. This message is coming from someone who is called ‘the other one’. Your life will never be the same again.”
Also read: PICS: Are these the photos showing off the VBS Bank loot?
Madzonga was implicated as one of the people at the centre of the downfall of Limpopo’s VBS Mutual Bank.
He was accused of having benefited to the tune of R30 million from the looted bank.
In August 2019, his estate, along with directors of the bank, were placed in final sequestration by the Gauteng High Court in an effort to recover more than R1.5 billion on behalf of the bank’s creditors.
A month later, Madzonga appealed the order against him, insisting on his innocence in the matter.
He told CNBC Africa in an interview: “Vele has its own cash flow and subsidiaries that it owned before VBS. It has its own assets and VBS is one of them. I showed the proof of payment. it was money that was paid by me, R3 million from my FNB account to VBS and R15 million from Netbank to VBS, to assist VBS. That time VBS was going through some liquidity crisis. The R18 million helped VBS to stay afloat for only two weeks. Even after I provided proof of payment, the media still reported that the money came from VBS to me.”
Also read: Robert Madzonga’s wife spills beans on his ‘hidden VBS millions’ – report
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Appeal denied Madzonga’s application to appeal his liquidation.
Investor Wilson Muvhulawa told the SABC the ruling would serve as a warning to other “looters”.
He was quoted as saying: “What the law is now doing … it is not the end but that is the beginning because out of this few that they discovered that were responsible … of that there are also links with other people that we don’t know and we would also like them to come out … even the monies, where the money has ended up … and we want it to be investigated so that it can be trailed up to the last point, where the money has gone to.”
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
