/ 30 December 2016

Homophobic US pastor, Steven Anderson, in joint venture with Cape Town church

Controversial US Pastor Steven Anderson leaves the Botswana Department of immigration after being issued a deportation order by Botswana authorities
Controversial US Pastor Steven Anderson leaves the Botswana Department of immigration after being issued a deportation order by Botswana authorities

An unapologetically anti-gay Cape Town preacher is planning to open two churches in South Africa, along with banned US pastor Steven Anderson.

“We know that the government banned him, but that is not going to stop us from having a church here in Cape Town,” Reverend Oscar Bougardt told News24 on Friday.

READ MORE: Malawi government says ‘kill the gays’ pastor ‘will not be received’ in the country

The Department of Home Affairs in September prohibited Anderson and members or associates of his church from entering South Africa, at the culmination of a campaign by supporters of LGBTI people who were disgusted with his anti-homosexual sermons earlier this year.

Anderson was also not welcome in Botswana but has since claimed to have been able to do his work in Malawi.

In the meantime, Bougardt went to visit Anderson in the US recently and told News24 they had got on well.

“We have got the same views and principles. This guy is not a monster. I went into the Apache tribes, where some of the poorest of the poor live and we didn’t even speak about homos, we just went and evangelised,” said Bougardt.

Bougardt was even featured in Anderson’s wife Szuszanna’s collection of family photos on her blog.

“We had a wonderful time fellowshipping with our new friend and brother in the Lord. Funny: he thought root beer was alcoholic and was taken aback by me offering him some, let alone giving it to the kids. He has a young son that is Stephen’s age, so those two hit it off together really well,” she wrote.

Homosexuals ‘are a danger’

Bougardt said that the Cape Town chapter of Anderson’s Faithful Word Baptist Church would open in Elsie’s River, a suburb of Cape Town, in late February or March.

Another chapter was planned for Pretoria, and both would be run under the registration of Bougardt’s Calvary of Ministries Church, he said.

“I am in the process of buying a building that they will obviously be funding,” said Bougardt, adding that he had around 400 congregants following his preaching.

Like Anderson, he believes homosexuality is a sin and said he would not “twist and turn” the Bible to accommodate anybody.

“Why should we be tolerant of their criminal lifestyle? Ninety-nine percent of paedophiles stem from homosexuality.

“I’m saying so because it is proven that 99% of the paedophiles have a homosexual background. They are blaming their previous lifestyle on what happened. Go and read up on it.”

READ MORE: The law, the homophobic pastor of hate, and why Malusi Gigaba barred him from SA

He said he made a point of keeping children away from homosexual people, believing that children were being exposed to grave danger by standing in the same room.

Bougardt said people who do not live in poorer areas did not understand the problem, nor understand that homosexuals from affluent areas pick up teenagers for sex and get them addicted to drugs, which led to the teens breaking into cars and turning to crime.

He said there was no point in reporting this to police, because the government allowed children, as young as 12, to have sex.

“The newspapers just want to tell us they [homosexuals] are nice loving people. They are a danger.” –  News24