A church pastor has shocked his wife and congregation after he allegedly ran off with his mistress, who is married and worked at the church as his personal assistant.
Pastor Oswell Ngcongo, 50, of Divine Empowerment Centre under the Apostolic Faith Mission in East London, apparently ran off with personal assistant, Thelela Ntsini, 38, leaving behind his wife of 27 years, Eunice Ngcongo.
The pastor and his wife were well-known to Christian radio station Link FM listeners, for giving marital advice.
The alleged lovers are said to have written to the church and their spouses from their “secret location” believed to be in Durban, announcing they would not return and were together to begin an “unknown future”.
Prior to their disappearance, the pair were embroiled in a scandal over adultery.
They had allegedly fled with hundreds of thousands of rands in church funds.
A letter from Ngcongo announcing he had run off to a secret hideaway with Thelela, was read out last Sunday to shocked church members. The pair allegedly disappeared on Thursday June 22 after a week-long crisis committee meeting over the alleged infidelity.
During an interview with the Dispatch yesterday, Thelela’s distraught husband, Vuyani Ntsini, said he wanted Ngcongo arrested for “running away with my wife”.
“My wife has done nothing wrong, she was taken advantage of and abused by this man posing as a pastor. I want my wife back.”
Ngcongo is the regional general-secretary of AFM church while his mistress, Thelela, is his regional personal assistant and sub--regional secretary.
Vuyani told the Dispatch that in one of many marathon meetings about the alleged infidelity, his wife even asked him to vouch for her in denying the rumours.
“I went there as my wife’s witness and told the leadership that my wife was faithful to me and that there were no such thing.”
Vuyani said he came back on Thursday June 22 from work to a “cold” and “empty” house with his wife and all her clothes gone.
Ngcongo and his wife have three children.
Link FM station manager Titch Wild refused to comment.
During a visit to Ngcongo’s home in Amalinda, a fuming Eunice demanded to know who had tipped off the Dispatch about the matter and refused to comment.
A woman who only introduced herself as Ngcongo’s sister, said all was well in her sister’s marriage.
The Dispatch has tried several times to reach the runaway pair but their phones went to voicemail.
Church leaders told the Dispatch that the pastor was given gifts and R150000 in cash by the church as a token of appreciation for having served in the church for more than five years.
Church members said they grew suspicious about the alleged affair after Ngcongo diverted all his calls to Thelela’s phone.
Church members also told the Dispatch that during a forum meeting on June 20 this year aimed at establishing the authenticity of the rumours Ngcongo accused her husband of denying her conjugal rights.
“Mam’fundisi (Ngcongo) complained that her husband always came home tired after spending a lot of time with the secretary.
“She also complained that their car which was bought by the church for them, was solely used by pastor for secret meetings with Mrs Ntsini.”
The adultery rumours forced the church board to launch an investigation where both Thelela and Ngcongo denied the rumours.
The pastor earned a salary of about R12 000 per month, lived in a R5 000-a-month house rented for him by the church and drove a Mazda 5 sedan – also paid for by the church.
The members also claimed that Thelela denied she was seeing the pastor to an extent of laying a charge with the church forum against Eunice Ngcongo for allegedly “spreading malicious rumours” against her.—
malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
Pastor ‘runs off’ with mistress
Pastor Oswell Ngcongo, 50, of Divine Empowerment Centre under the Apostolic Faith Mission in East London, apparently ran off with personal assistant, Thelela Ntsini, 38, leaving behind his wife of 27 years, Eunice Ngcongo.
The pastor and his wife were well-known to Christian radio station Link FM listeners, for giving marital advice.
The alleged lovers are said to have written to the church and their spouses from their “secret location” believed to be in Durban, announcing they would not return and were together to begin an “unknown future”.
Prior to their disappearance, the pair were embroiled in a scandal over adultery.
They had allegedly fled with hundreds of thousands of rands in church funds.
A letter from Ngcongo announcing he had run off to a secret hideaway with Thelela, was read out last Sunday to shocked church members. The pair allegedly disappeared on Thursday June 22 after a week-long crisis committee meeting over the alleged infidelity.
During an interview with the Dispatch yesterday, Thelela’s distraught husband, Vuyani Ntsini, said he wanted Ngcongo arrested for “running away with my wife”.
“My wife has done nothing wrong, she was taken advantage of and abused by this man posing as a pastor. I want my wife back.”
Ngcongo is the regional general-secretary of AFM church while his mistress, Thelela, is his regional personal assistant and sub--regional secretary.
Vuyani told the Dispatch that in one of many marathon meetings about the alleged infidelity, his wife even asked him to vouch for her in denying the rumours.
“I went there as my wife’s witness and told the leadership that my wife was faithful to me and that there were no such thing.”
Vuyani said he came back on Thursday June 22 from work to a “cold” and “empty” house with his wife and all her clothes gone.
Ngcongo and his wife have three children.
Link FM station manager Titch Wild refused to comment.
During a visit to Ngcongo’s home in Amalinda, a fuming Eunice demanded to know who had tipped off the Dispatch about the matter and refused to comment.
A woman who only introduced herself as Ngcongo’s sister, said all was well in her sister’s marriage.
The Dispatch has tried several times to reach the runaway pair but their phones went to voicemail.
Church leaders told the Dispatch that the pastor was given gifts and R150000 in cash by the church as a token of appreciation for having served in the church for more than five years.
Church members said they grew suspicious about the alleged affair after Ngcongo diverted all his calls to Thelela’s phone.
Church members also told the Dispatch that during a forum meeting on June 20 this year aimed at establishing the authenticity of the rumours Ngcongo accused her husband of denying her conjugal rights.
“Mam’fundisi (Ngcongo) complained that her husband always came home tired after spending a lot of time with the secretary.
“She also complained that their car which was bought by the church for them, was solely used by pastor for secret meetings with Mrs Ntsini.”
The adultery rumours forced the church board to launch an investigation where both Thelela and Ngcongo denied the rumours.
The pastor earned a salary of about R12 000 per month, lived in a R5 000-a-month house rented for him by the church and drove a Mazda 5 sedan – also paid for by the church.
The members also claimed that Thelela denied she was seeing the pastor to an extent of laying a charge with the church forum against Eunice Ngcongo for allegedly “spreading malicious rumours” against her.—
malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
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