INLSA
Rev Vusi Dube, EThekwini Community Church (ECC),
Wendy Jasson da Costa
CONTROVERSIAL pastor Vusi Dube wants his congregation to open their wallets and raise the R12 million needed to develop a church which will stand out as a “serious landmark” in Durban.
Dube has often been at odds with the eThekwini municipality for not paying for municipal services used by his church when it operated out of tents at Durban’s Albert Park.
Yesterday he said that buying and renovating a building should resolve the problems the municipality has with him.
Dube, also an MPL in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, said he had already signed an offer to purchase a building in Brickhill Road.
If all went according to plan, the eThekwini Community Church could move into the renovated building shortly after Easter next year.
The R12m raised by the church congregation through donations and concerts would go towards buying the building and renovating it to suit their needs.
A fundraising committee, which includes marketing guru Zama Phakathi, had been set up and the plans included fundraising concerts featuring gospel singer Rebecca Malope and kwaito star Kabelo Mabelane, said Dube.
In a pamphlet addressed to the “friends” of the church, calling on them to assist in raising the money, Dube wrote: “We consider you as a Partner in our work and it thus gives us pleasure to inform you of this latest great development in our journey with the Lord and ASK YOU to become part of it!!!.”
The pastor stressed that the building would not just be a church, as its “Afrocentric design and multipurpose function” would make it an iconic building. Their dream, he said, was “to raise an iconic structure of worship as a testament of faith and a confirmation of the liberation of Africans in South Africa: a legacy for generations to come”.
Dube said the “glass house” would be “very noticeable” and serve as a “centre of hope”. It would consist of lots of mirrors and glass, to reflect the congregation’s belief in transparency and because they served God with the “purity of our hearts”, he said.
Those on the inside would be able to see out, but those outside would not be able to see everything happening inside, he said.
The “Glass House”, as he called it, would have a 5 000-seat church and a wellness centre to counsel and treat those with HIV/Aids, a youth development centre and a multi-purpose centre which people would be able to rent.
Dube said that although the municipality had accused him of owing R9 000 in outstanding rent, it had not presented him with an account or explained how it had reached that amount.
The municipality had not responded to questions on the matter at the time of going to print.
Tex Collins, DA caucus leader in the eThekwini council and a vocal critic of the church’s operation in the park without paying for municipal services, wished Dube luck in raising the R12m. However, he said Dube should first pay what he owed for using electricity while operating at the park, something Dube has already acknowledged.
