Mahikeng- Ministers Fellowship(MMF) has welcomed the donation of over R4 million announced by the Synagogue Church of All Nations(SCOAN) to assist families of victims of the church building collapse in Nigeria meet funeral expenses,the interdenominational Pastoral Fellowship from the North West Province said in a statement issued  on Friday.

“The announcement of aid to the families that lost their loved ones during the tragic incident does not come as a surprise to those of us in the church who are familiar with Prophet TB Joshua’s global humanitarian and philanthropic activities which have contributed over $200 million over the years towards various causes to alleviate the plight of those in need” Chairperson of MMF,Apostle Zandisile Mpame said in reacting to the announcement.
 
Mpame said that it is a known fact that through the work of the humanitarian arm of the synagogue and the NGOs, the church provides scholarship to orphans and children of the underprivileged with educational support given from primary to tertiary levels.
 
There is also a rehabilitation Programme for armed robbers, prostitutes and for people from Nigeria’s volatile Niger-Delta region.

TB Joshua is well known in Nigeria and neighboring Ghana for reconciling broken families and marriages.

According to the statement issued by SCOAN ,R50 000 would be donated to each of the 85 families towards funeral expenses of each family of the victims.

“We have done a full audit of each family’s financial needs and assisted with various household expenses as many of the deceased were breadwinners,” SCOAB spokesman Kirsten Nematandani said in a statement.

Household expenses varied from rent money to school fees and groceries, he said.

MMF had earlier in the week called on Nigerian authorities to expeditite the repatriation of the 80 bodies of South Africans who died at (SCOAN.

“We are concerned that until they have mourned and buried their loved ones in dignity,families that are traumatized by their loss and protracted delay will not find closure to carry on with their lives,” Mpame had said.

He said that the care, compassion and sense of urgency that was demonstrated by the South African government in response to the SCOAN tragedy seemed to be lacking on the part of their Nigerian counterparts.

“It is completely unacceptable by any standard that the identification process and repatriation of the bodies of our compatriots who perished in the tragedy had not been completed after 40 days,” Mpame emphasised.  

MMF reiterated that the consular support provided by the South African government to families of those who died including the evacuation of 22 injured survivors by the South African National Defence Force and forensic, pathological and disaster relief efforts coordinated by the Inter-Ministerial Committee had made South Africans proud of their government.

After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Joshua had sent a team of medical personnel and humanitarian workers to the affected area, establishing a field hospital called‘Clinique Emmanuel’.
-TDN
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