Grace Bible Church wants R89k to host Joe Mafela's memorial
Do you believe churches should charge a fee to host memorial services and funerals?
South Africans everywhere were shattered when they heard about the passing of iconic actor Joe Mafela over the weekend. Mafela was well known for his role as Sdumo in the South African comedy 'Sgudi Snays’.
Read: South Africans mourn death of TV icon, Joe Mafela
Some more shocking news has come to light since his passing, this time surrounding the fee a church is demanding to host the legend's memorial service.
Former Generations actor Mangaliso Ngema took to Facebook to post his concerns over the R89,000 cost for the memorial service to be held at the Grace Bible Church in Soweto.
According to the post made by the actor on Wednesday: 'When the head pastor Sono was consulted, he offered a R10k discount. Needless to say, there was no deal this is totally ridiculous. This is supposed to be a "house of God" serving the community. The memorial is now going to be held at the Joburg theatre on Thursday.’
Mangaliso has taken down the post and has since made an apology to the church. However, he added: 'Churches need to change the way they handle community needs and become more accessible to all'.
Even though the post was taken down from his Facebook and was replaced with the public apology, the Twittersphere erupted.
For R89 000, Grace Bible Church better give royalties of the movie (it's no longer a memorial service) to Joe Mafela's family. pic.twitter.com/ZlJA8MOhxt
— Lifa (@MLifaro) March 23, 2017
@divhambelemaano Grace Bible church must think Joe Mafela was a multi millionaire hence they are trying to ripoff his family.
— Justice4All (@Unathi_Kwaza) March 23, 2017
Grace Bible Church go pray for 89k somewhere else. Joe Mafela is an icon, you should be honored to host such an event, not rubbing yo hands pic.twitter.com/OyFqS3cQrB
— DishDish (@The_Light411) March 23, 2017
#89KGraceMemorial So Grace Bible was charging R89K for Joe Mafela memorial, it is because he wasn't a church member?
— #HolyCuriosity (@Tankisokomane) March 22, 2017
Not long ago, Grace Bible Church made headlines after a visiting pastor from Ghana offended many individuals after his homophobic remarks. SA's very own Somizi Mhlongo stormed out and took his anger to social media.
Read: Somizi storms out of church after homophobic remarks
Yes, I do believe that churches should charge for the running costs of the building, but it definitely shouldn’t be this high.
Do you think that the amount charged was acceptable or should they even be charging at all? Share your comments below: