“Pope” Tsietsi Makiti lifts his hands towards the tavern-goers and blesses them with the words: “Amstel! Hallelujah!”
“At Gabola tavern we drink, and we don’t hide from God that we are drinking,” says Makiti, dressed in traditional church robes and wearing a mitre embroidered with a golden cross on his head.
“After the sermon we invite all new members to come forward and be baptised. You come with your beer, your water, your milk or tea and we baptise you with it.”
The Gabola church in Orange Farm, Johannesburg, is one of many unconventional churches that have mushroomed across SA in recent years, prompting the CRL commission to launch an investigation into abuse in churches.

Described as “modern-day sangomas masquerading as prophets”, some church leaders are now facing criminal charges for their acts, but congregants say there is a reason for attending nontraditional churches, and not all are bad.
At Gabola church, people say they can relax and do not get chastised for not giving their tithes, while a church in the Eastern Cape has become known for its matchmaking skills...