STATEMENT ON THE SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST MR AMON SIPHO “FANO” SIBISI
1. Our father joined the KSB Ministry in 1977, fresh from varsity, where he dropped out from the University of Natal – Medical School due to the calling that burned within him for God’s work that was taking place in KSB Mission.
2. His passion and dedication for God’s work, God-given intelligence and leadership qualities saw him rise within the ranks of the KSB Ministry quickly. As a result, over years, he was given various responsibilities and leadership roles well ahead of his colleagues in the church. It is a fact that at some point in time, in the course of his calling in God’s work, he was given the following responsibilities:
a. Co-worker in the KSB Ministry
b. Co-founder and President of CFT International and CFT South Africa.
c. Co-founder and Station Manager of the Radio Khwezi Community radio station.
d. Co-founder and School Governing Body (SGB) member of Domino Servite School.
e. Co-founder and Board member of the Cedar College of Education.
f. Co-founder and director of Ekhamanzi Springs (Pty) Ltd (aQuelle).
g. Co-founder and trustee or member of several business ventures or projects supporting the KSB Ministry.
h. One of the spokesmen for the KSB Ministry
i. One of the advisors and speechwriters for Rev. E.H. Stegen.
3. As the Sibisi family, we firmly believe that there is a concerted smear campaign to character assassinate our father and family name. We now have proof that this smear campaign has been ongoing for at least four (4) years. We understood the objectives of this campaign to be very clear – “To tarnish the good name of our father and family and to totally eradicate any positive attribute or legacy that our father and family enjoys to anybody that knows our father and us, especially to the brethren of Kwasizabantu Mission and their associates.”
4. The following actions or words confirm our strongly held belief of the existence of a well-coordinated and orchestrated smear campaign against our father:
a. Immediately after our father passed away, in June 2011, a team of KSB co-workers was dispatched to Europe to convince KSB and CFT members abroad not to attend our father’s funeral. In those meetings, our father and family was called all sorts of names.
b. In preparation for our father’s funeral, secret meetings were convened by the KSB leadership where plans were made to prevent our family from playing any participatory role in burying our father. Moreover, our family name was dragged to the mud in the quest to justify the non-participation of our family at the funeral.
c. Various KSB and CFT members were discouraged from attending the funeral. Moreover, certain individuals, including high ranking SA citizens and dignitaries, were called and told not to attend the funeral.
d. The KSB leadership organized co-workers’ meetings where our father’s funeral was discussed and lambasted. In these meetings, our father and family were called all sorts of names. Unproven allegations were levelled against our father and family, all in the quest to tarnish his good name and our family name.
e. Immediately after our father’s funeral, the audio-visual recordings became unavailable at the KSB Tape Room, where audio-visual recordings of all services, funerals, weddings, etc are sold. Later, only the portion of the funeral service became available and the rest of the funeral programme was edited out of the recording.
f. Similarly, since his death, all recorded materials, both written and/or audio involving their late station manager, became unavailable at the Radio Khwezi community radio station. Programme manager(s) were instructed to stop airing any of his poems, which he had written and got fellow Radio Khwezi staff members to render.
g. In April 2013, we had to send letters to the CFT and KSB leadership appealing to them to review their decision to systematically shut down CFT in South Africa. In our view, the decision to shut down CFT in South Africa was part of a campaign to systematically erase our father’s good name and influence of over 20 years in the minds and hearts of his fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord.
h. As if this was not enough, about two to three months ago, we have come to understand that there is fresh attempt to fight our father from the grave. A few individuals in the KSB Ministry, coordinated by Ms Lydia Thofozi Dube, have held countless secret meetings on this campaign against our father and family name. Thereafter, they took their campaign to the KSB co-workers. Similarly to the meetings that were held in June 2011, after our father’s passing, co-workers have been convened once again. In these meetings, in a similar fashion, co-workers have been fed a whole lot of propaganda against our father and family. The highlight of this propaganda message goes as follows:
i. Mr Amon Sipho “Fano” Sibisi was an undercover member/agent of the African National Congress (ANC) and Black Consciousness Movement, respectively, as far back as the ‘70’s.
ii. As an agent of the ANC and BCM member, his mandate was to topple Rev. E.H. Stegen and F.H. Stegen from the KSB leadership and thus ensure that Black people lead the KSB Mission.
iii. He was to become the new leader of the KSB Mission after the successful “coup” or take-over.
iv. In preparation for this take-over, he held secret meetings with a few fellow co-workers in the ‘80’s where this plan was discussed. Unfortunately, Ms Lydia Thofozi Dube uncovered the plan and confronted them about this plan. As a result, our father and his fellow conspirators devised a second plan, which was to get rid of Ms L.T. Dube.
v. It is this second plan that apparently successfully took place in year 2000 when Ms L.T. Dube was expelled from the KSB Mission and as a co-worker after she was accused of conspiring to kidnap herself and for causing grievous bodily harm to a fellow co-worker (Ms Thobekile Mhlongo).
vi. As a result, the KSB Mission was deeply divided and there was an exodus of members from the church both in South Africa and abroad.
vii. Today, Ms L.T. Dube, says that she was coerced into confessing lies about her own kidnapping. She was also coerced to resign from Christians for Truth (CFT) Executive. She was coerced to leave KSB Mission, at the time, when she had done absolutely nothing wrong. Her only sin was to protect Rev E.H. Stegen and F.H. Stegen against our father and others who had conspired to get rid of them in the church.
viii. A group of KSB co-workers, led by Mrs Stella Hlongwane are the propagators of this new gospel. They are the face of this smear campaign. Mrs Stella Hlongwane personally claims to have been a part of this team of conspirators that sought to take-over KSB Mission from the hands of Rev. E.H. Stegen. She claims to have been part of these secret meetings. She also claims to have been an active member of the ANC and BCM respectively.
5. On Sunday, 02 August 2015, our family successfully held a meeting with this group of KSB co-workers in the quest to get some clarity on their smear campaign.
6. At this meeting, the above outlined smear campaign was unpacked and we sought answers from these group of co-workers. It is regrettable that they dismally failed to reveal the truth about their campaign. The only lies that Mrs Stella Hlongwane confirmed was that our father was involved in the underground activities, as outlined above, and that he was part of the group that sought to topple Rev E.H. Stegen from the KSB Mission. However, she dismally failed to answer the following few questions:
a. If our father was an agent or member of the ANC and BCM, respectively, who did he report to? What was the name of their operation? How many people were part of this team? Who were their names? Who of them are still alive? (We asked these questions repeatedly, with no definite answer. On the contrary, Mrs Stella Hlongwane flatly refused to answer these questions. Instead, she asked to go and consult these individuals before he can disclose their names)
b. Is there any collaborative evidence to her claims above? Any records or archives that she can show us? Any minutes of these meetings? (We asked these questions repeatedly, with no answer)
c. Most importantly, does our father have any role in the fake kidnapping of Ms L.T. Dube that took place on the 12 September 1997? (We asked this specific question repeatedly, with no answer save to say that Mrs Stella Hlongwane flatly refused to simply answer yes or no.
7. At the end of the meeting, we requested this group of co-workers to desist from spreading this smear campaign in any form or manner. We also appealed to them to set us free from these lies by speaking the truth and only the truth. We requested them to assist Mrs Stella Hlongwane to re-convene a meeting with all those involved and to invite our family into their meeting. We asked
them to give us a timeframe for the re-convening of the meeting, but they were non-committal to any date.
8. It is in the light of this meeting that we have come to the safe conclusion that this is a smear campaign aimed at character assassinating our father and our family name in the highest possible way. This campaign is full of a pack of lies that is meant to systematically tarnish and eradicate our father’s and family’s good name and thus cause irreversible reputational harm to our family in the eyes all those who knew him and/or those who knew about him.
9. We humbly request all and sundry to desist from participating in any activities, including gatherings, that discuss, involve, include or that even makes mention of our father’s and/or family name in any negative light. We call to order all individuals that are spreading lies and/or unproven allegations against our father and/or family name.
10. We would like to convey our gratitude to everyone that have come forward with the truth (collaborated evidence) against these unfounded allegations. We further call upon any individuals with any issues, questions, concerns or information regarding our father’s life or the subject matter at hand to kindly contact our family. We are more than capable of handling all our father’s affairs.
11. We would also like to welcome the concerns that both the Christian community and ANC leadership has expressed on the subject matter, respectively. We will continue engaging the ANC about these unfounded claims with the view of soliciting any information or records that in any way link our father to the claims made by Mrs Stella Hlongwane. We will also continue to seek spiritual counsel from the broader Christian community during this difficult moment.
12. As it stands, we are now in a position to surrender all documents, statements and audio-visual recordings to the South African law enforcement agencies regarding the conspiracy to kidnap our maternal aunt, Ms L.T. Dube, that took place on the 12 September 1997. Mrs Stella Hlongwane has finally confessed in public to being a co-conspirator to the kidnapping of Ms L.T. Dube. She is also more than willing to provide the South African authorities with all the necessary information regarding this criminal activity.
13. We are in the process of consulting our lawyers on how to proceed with the above matter. We view these issues in a very serious light and we will not leave this matter unattended. Infact, we will not leave any stone unturned. We will not rest until we find the truth and only the truth on this matter.
Pressing On!
Issued by: Sibisi Family
Date: 07 August 2015
For more information kindly contact: Mbonisiwezizwe Sibisi (mbonisisibisi@yahoo.com and/or 083 7459410) and/or Meliqiniso Sibisi (ihlase@yahoo.com and/or 083 6822411)