Four years ago a letter writer in City Press chastised artist and media practitioner Tshwarelo eseng Mogakane about his much publicised simulated heresy, “The bible is not subject to private interpretation”, the obviously shook fundamentalist writer wrote. After this public rebuke Mogakane retreated from the religious discourse for some time and nothing was heard of him except bylines in national newspapers as a journalist.This year he returns in his much-anticipated second coming as The Awesome God with a thought-provoking DVD titled Stop Messing Around, Success Is Yours. This time he is not poking fingers at the Bible or preaching sacrilege but out to share what he calls God’s Detailed Plan for your Life. He is unashamedly poking fingers at some pastors' greedy practices though.
The 45-minutes long DVD is in essence motivational talk using biblical figures and references to indicate every individual’s space in the universal matrix. You were put here for a reason remember? Mogakane argues that many people are poor today because they have succumbed to what is called 'the law of social science' which he disputes is absolute but subject to challenge. He argues that there's nothing cast in stone until you see a stone where there's none.
Wearing green work overalls, a yellow helmet and shades he preaches his stinging sermon from the comfort of his Divine Construction Ministries which this published poet, enterpreneur and recording artist claims will manifest into a broad church that does not accept tithing but instead encourages its flock to go out and be rich instead for its own good and not the pastor's.
Money is the underlying theme of this DVD. “They are drinking their Three Ships which are drowning their families” he warns about the nouvre riches indecent behaviour. It is the one hypocritical statement in the DVD since Tshwarelo does enjoy drinking his Ships, either one, two or Seven almost everyday. He challenges parishioners to move from giving to pastors to taking for themselves, not from the coffers though as disgraced ANC spindoctor of bad repute Carl Niehaus got the hard end of the stick for having sticky fingers.
“We must first take before we give, you can’t go to the toilet to fill your stomach but you must fill your stomach first to go to the toilet”, he says as he warns against tithing before the parishioners are wealthy. This statement rings truer to those accessing director's and staff loans from conglomerate churches like Rhema.
Arguing that God is giving people a businessplan which he calls OSI-EFE, or ‘don’t eff (fuck) around’ he says the CC-Syndrome has had many people claiming to be on the way to making money by registering CCs without building relationships like the biblical leper at the well. The poor leper couldn't be rolled into the pond because there was no one from his kin to help him, so before you tender for that SAA catering contract worth R365 million you must have Khaya Ngcula to roll you into the pond for your leprosy (poverty) to be healed. Without a Nqcula you'll always wonder why some people's condition received attention while you are forever at Tender Briefings.
Mogakane’s sermons are inarguably what the country needs at this time of financial global recession, debt-ridden families, Trevor Manuel's impending departure, politicians who believe they automatically make good businesspeople by arguing when asked what they'll do after politics that they'll go into business as if being a businessman was a natural progression while it takes a certain savviness that either you have or you don't, and trying academic challenges.
Slain Black Consciousness protégé Steven Bantu Biko once wrote in his essay We Blacks, “the anachronism of a well-meaning God who allows people to suffer continually under an obviously immoral system is not lost to young blacks who continue to drop out of Church by their hundreds”.
Biko would have loved what Mogakane did in this well-edited and packaged DVD which comes with intoxicating music. It’s motivation taken to another level.
It retails at R40 with previews available at www.makgema.blogspot.com. It’s another production of the Dwarsloop based Mega-Mak Entertainment.
