- [June] Hello, and welcome to "The Doc Exchange: A
Real Stories Podcast." In partnership with The Grierson Trust. Every week, I'll ask a new
filmmaker, or a filmmaking team, about three documentaries,
connected by a single theme, that have made a meaningful impression on their work and life. (gentle music) (gentle upbeat music) - South Africa, a country devoted to God. Literally, wherever you walk in the city, you can hear a church. There's literally churches everywhere. You can almost pick one
tailor-made for you. With more people living with HIV than any other country in the world and 70% of young people unemployed, this is a place in need of miracles. Luckily, there are dozens of
evangelical pastors on hand promising healing. - If I bless you today, you are blessed! - [Reggie] And extravagant
riches to all who believe. - [Mboro] If you are hearing me, your money's also coming to you. - I've got a mixed history
with this kind of faith. My mum took me to an African
Pentecostal church as a kid. The minute it became my decision, I've chosen not to follow
any particular religion. I think I'm one of the few West Africans who aren't scared to say that church isn't really for them anymore. - [Mboro] There's a preaching about God. - I've come here to find
out why one of these magical megachurches... - [Mboro] He's your Father, he's your God, he's your shepherd. - [Reggie] Is so popular
with young South Africans. - Do you like what I'm doing, or not? (audience cheering) - [Reggie] And why its preacher... - Touch your breast. - [Reggie] Is as rich and
famous as a rock star. - I honestly think there
is, like, no man like him. - You are special, you are precious. You are black and powerful. - But will my lack of faith... Watching him spend money is actually making my hairs stand on end. See me ex-communicated? - [Mboro] I don't like
arrogance, I don't like pride. We have white people here but you're whiter than white people. - Or could it land me in
a whole heap more trouble? In one of these cars currently surrounded by
men with machine guns, there's a man coming to see
me, and he's pissed. (laughing) (upbeat dance music) Johannesburg, a city where
over three million people call themselves Christians. Worship here is on a mega scale. I've come to spend a
week with one of the most controversial megachurches,
called Incredible Happenings. Going to church is something that I haven't done in a long time. You know what? In all honesty, I genuinely don't remember the last time I went to church through choice. Seriously. With a following in the tens of thousands, Incredible Happenings is
unlike any church I've been to. It's led by a self-proclaimed
prophet, called Mboro. (Mboro hissing) - I release the blood of
Jesus, the blood of Christ. Touch the screen and receive your miracle. - [Reggie] Despite
growing up in a poor slum, God has been good to him. He's now a multimillionaire, owning several houses and 30 flash cars. - Jesus Christ! Jehovah is his name! - [Reggie] But he often hits the headlines for all the wrong reasons, like allegedly waving a gun
around in a radio station. - Bad criticism, bad publicity, I wanna thank them for that
because they made me famous. - I'm really excited about meeting Mboro. I'm desperate to know why so
many young people follow him and what he says resonates with them. It's Sunday, so I'm off to
meet the church's parishioners and the prophet himself at the service. And with all the bad press, it seems the church takes
security pretty seriously. This is it, this is the Church
of Incredible Happenings. That's a catchy name, isn't it? (laughs) Is that the man there, is that him? That's him! There you go, Mboro. Nice suit. And the prophet has a
Facebook and a Twitter page. (laughing) Brilliant. And just in case you didn't
get it, their slogan is, "It's incredible and it's happening." That's the sort of thing
that I would come up with and get laughed at. It's an hour before the main service but already there's lots
of young people here in expectation of some
incredible happenings. Are you literally just
coming here to worship today? Or are you involved in any way at all? - I'm an usher, I serve people. - I'm part of the worship team. Part of the worshipers
who sing, entertain, and bring the spirit down and worship Him. - [Reggie] Oh, so the choir? - Yes, part of the choir.
- So you sing? Right, okay. A lot of people say that
Mboro does miracles, the prophet is someone who
is capable of miracles. Have you ever seen any? - He does plenty of miracles.
- I couldn't walk, he healed me by his prayers. - Yeah.
- And then look at me now. (gentle soulful music) - It's not just prayer
people are buying into. The church shop sells
everything from holy salt and holy water, to fashion garments. You've got Mboro T-shirts and you've got refreshments
with his face on it as well. It's almost more like a concert and there's, like, a merch stand. Hello, guys. How are you doing? What are you selling today? - We have-
- That's Vaseline, right? - It's a petroleum jelly. - Yeah, okay.
- Petroleum jelly. - And is that his face on it? - Yes. It's been anointed by the
anointment of the prophet. - [Reggie] So he's blessed this. - [Sales Assistant] He blesses this. - I used to go to church
when I was younger in the UK, and the church never
had a sales department. - Okay. (laughs)
- You know? Oh, my God. Wow. This place is massive. ♪ I'm gonna get it shine ♪ Mboro hasn't arrived yet but already there are thousands
of people in the church. They come from all parts of the country, some traveling for days to
be blessed by the prophet. (audience cheering) - Hallelujah! - Suddenly, the vibe changes. (upbeat drumming music) The moment everyone has been waiting for. (audience cheering) Surrounded by armed
guards and cheering fans, Prophet Mboro has arrived. (audience cheering)
(audience applauding) - Hallelujah! (upbeat music)
(Mboro yelling) (Mboro shouts in foreign language) (choir singing in foreign language) Come on! Oh! You sing it! (Mboro vocalizing) (audience applauding)
(audience cheering) - Wow. - Wow ♪ And I will always love you ♪ (audience laughing) Oh, my God. Thank you, man. Thank you. Praise God. - [Congregation] Amen. (gentle soulful music) - [Reggie] The service might have started like a West End show but people don't attend
just to be entertained. They also come here to be
healed of their problems, be it physical, mental or spiritual. - There are things that
your education cannot solve. (translator speaks in foreign language) There are things that
your money cannot buy. (translator speaks in foreign language) There are things that only God can. Say, "Jesus." - [Congregation] Jesus. - [Reggie] As a nonbeliever, and not wanting to pretend to pray, I find myself in an awkward position. - [Congregation] I thank you, Gad. - I receive hope. - [Congregation] I receive hope. - To go and look for a job. - [Congregation] To go and look for a job. - [Mboro] To go and start a business. - [Congregation] To go
and start a business. - [Mboro] To stand up again. - [Congregation] To stand up again. - [Mboro] I will never fail. - [Congregation] I will never fail. - [Mboro] In Jesus. - In Jesus.
(Mboro yells) (Congregation yells) (audience applauding) - I can understand financial problems, but during the service, there are things that I can't quite comprehend. - She says her vagina is painful. (woman groaning) There's a beast that came at night. - I just wanna die. - [Mboro] Just want to die? - Yes.
- No, ma'am. - I need you to pray
with me and pray for me. - [Reggie] This 22-year-old woman attempted to take her own life as she believes she was
raped by an evil spirit. (woman shrieking) - [Mboro] (speaks in
foreign language) Biscuit. - The prophet doesn't
shy away from healing this follower's private parts. His word for the vagina is biscuit. Oh, my God. He's stepping on her. (women groaning) - This beast. - [Congregation] This beast. - On my biscuit. Let it die. Die! (woman crying) Die! (woman shrieking) - Spiritual husbands, and
spirits possessing vaginas, that's something I've
never heard about before. - Say, "Jesus!" - [Congregation] Jesus! - Jesus! - [Congregation] Jesus! - [Mboro] Say, "Yes, my vagina is clean." - I may have gone to a Pentecostal church, but I've never seen anything like this. After a seven-hour show, hands in the air go to
hands in the pockets. And now they are all pouring forward to put their money in
the baskets in the front. (upbeat music) According to the prophet himself, these followers contribute
over a million pounds a year to him and his church
through donations, events, and buying merchandise. - We are incredible! We are incredible! We are happening. Hallelujah! - [Woman] Amen. (clapping) - With the service over, I've been granted a short
audience with the prophet. Hello, I'm Reggie. Lovely to meet you. - The Reggie they have
been speaking about. - Thank you so much for having
us at your service today. You're quite the entertainer.
It was incredible. It was almost like a
concert, almost, you know. You are almost like a rock
star to some of these guys, the way they are reacting to you on stage. - For me, I just wanna
have fun with my people, make them happy while I minister to them. - [Reggie] Yeah. - So they can forget where they come from and look where they are and
enjoy God in a different way. - One of the things that I think is definitely gonna stick out in my mind when I leave here today, is casting the bad
spirits out of that lady that was lying on the floor. - Witchcraft is rife here in South Africa. When I was young, I used to
be troubled by those spirits, talking cats. I know you don't know
that cats here, they talk. And calling my name and
things choking me at night. When I received Jesus Christ, the main purpose was to
come out of those things. In Africa we have faith. It's just that we have
it in different things. - Yeah. Real education, coming here today. Thank you for having us. - No, thank you very much. God bless you. - I don't wanna get in the
way of your security guards. - [Mboro] No. It's fine, they're cool. - They're massive.
(Mboro laughs) See you later.
- Thanks. - Bye-bye.
- Okay. (upbeat music)
(car horns blaring) - As Mboro leaves with his entourage in a fleet of flash cars,
I was left bewildered. I can't work out why young
people buy into all of this. In all honesty, it was just bizarre today. I mean, the offering culture is something that we have in the UK, but if you see a 20 quid in
there, you are gonna think, "Wow, geez, cor, someone's gone for it." But here, it's just envelopes. And then buy water that has been blessed and then buy salt that has been blessed and then buy Vaseline
that has been blessed. There's lots of things
that I wanna find out about because, in all honesty, on face value, it's really unsettling. (upbeat dance music) (man singing in foreign language) Yesterday's Sunday service
was out of this world. If I'm going to understand
young people's beliefs here, then I need to know more about
the man that they follow. So I've arranged to meet Mboro
at his favorite suit shop. Unfortunately, there's no sign of him. So I wait. And I wait. And I wait. You sort of hear loads of
things about Africa time, but you don't really get
it until you experience it. The word is that the longer
you wait for someone, the more important they are or the more important you deem them to be. And he's two hours more important than he used to be to me now. I'm not one for waiting on people, so I'm getting started without him. - Hello.
- How you doing? - How you doing? I'm Reggie.
- Hi. I'm Greg. - Nice to meet you, Greg.
- You, too. - Hello, boss. How are you doing? I'm sorry that we are so late. I've been waiting for Mboro
for the last few hours. - No problem.
- So I figured I'd come and see the place myself. He's quite a flamboyant guy. What sort of thing does
he normally go for? - He actually goes for one of our... Well, for our top brand,
which is a top Italian brand. - Well, that's- - Very out there. - [Reggie] That's hardly gonna have you slip into the background, isn't it? - Correct.
- Who else shops here? - Pastors, footballers,
Bafana Bafana guys, all the hip-hop stars. - Where I'm from, the footballers and
rappers and entertainers, you kind of expect them
to go to the same clubs and the same shops. - Yeah, yeah.
- But you wouldn't expect them to shop in the same place as the pastors. Are the pastors here
like celebrities as well? - They are. The pastors actually
are huge celebrities here. - How much is one of these
suits gonna set you back? - They range between
25,000 and 40,000 rand. - Wow. With suits costing up to 3,000 pounds, this is definitely a shop
for the high-rollers. After three hours, the celebrity prophet finally
arrives with his entourage. As ever, he's dressed to impress. You're looking pretty sharp
for a quiet, normal Monday. - No, I just dressed up to
come and see you. (laughing) - [Reggie] Really? - I had to put on a tie for you. - Oh, really?
- You must be special. - I was gonna say! You're
making me feel special. - The way you wear, it speaks. It tells who you are. And I know you've got good stuff at home. - (laughs) I left the good stuff at home, is that what you are saying?
- I know. - Oh, right, oh, right, I
know what you're saying! - I'm also like that, you know? I know. - (laughs) So, if I'm gonna
come back to your church this weekend, I need to be
dressed appropriately, right? So, could you help me
find something to wear? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Ha! You seem unsure. Okay. What is gonna be suitable? I'm tempted by that crazy
gold-and-black number. Can I try? I just wanna see it on me. Go on, Tom. Get it on me, Tom. Yeah, that's not happening. Those shoulders are not happening. Look at that. Look at
the monkey arms as well. It's a nice color. - It's a good color. - It looks very... - No, but you need it to, hm! - Ah.
- Show the, hm! - [Mboro] Okay. (laughing) - So what sort of thing
would you go for, then? - That's the thing. When
I come here, I take- - A trolley load, or two or three or four. - You know?
- Yeah. - I spend over 100 grand just in one day. And I come back again and I just... - Sometimes he can come two,
three times in one week. - That's a lot of money on
suits, though, isn't it? That's a lot of money on suits. - When I buy, I just... Yeah, no, this is nice. - I was always taught that
Christianity was about being humble and modest, not splashing 7,000
pounds a visit on outfits. Watching him spend that
money, like that, on that, is actually making my hairs stand on end. And I feel a bit sick. So I've decided not to buy a
flash suit for Sunday best. Yeah, no, I don't think I will get one. Yeah, I think what I should do is- - Smart-casual. - No, be me. And that's what I think is
the best thing for me to do. - [Mboro] But definitely
you have to be different. - [Reggie] Different? Okay. - You are presenting
something to another world. - What is it you think I
should be projecting, then? - Your image. Your image. You are Reggie,
you understand what I'm saying? You know, your presentation
is not only for you. A lot of people are still in the hole. When you say, "Come, let's
go," they look at you first. If I wear something
awesome, they say, "Wow." They get excited. It's about
building somebody else. - This is my blazer. It's clearly not as expensive. - It saves you a lot. You save a lot. - I think your blazer cost a bit more. A bit of design went into yours. - [Mboro] So, anyway, she will come and- - Perfect.
- Sort you out. - Thanks, boss.
- As we normally do. - Nice to see you again.
- Thank you. Come to Incredible Happenings. - Like many churches in South Africa, Mboro has his own daily
TV and radio shows. He claims to heal and deliver miracles to millions over the airwaves. - [Mboro] Don't miss it for
anything in the world. Ba! God bless you. It's coming close to hand. - [Reggie] Today's call-in
show is already underway. I'm not sure what I missed,
but it sounds serious. - We just received a caller explaining that the daughter's panty, something bad, something
very dark is coming out. And the mother is experiencing... The tummy is growing. Those are the evil spirits. I swear right now, touch the radio. Touch the screen of your
television. God will heal you. On Sunday you can bring your underwear. I'm going to pray for it. It's your point of contact. I am going to release the
power of God through it. Touch wherever you have a problem. Touch your biscuit, touch your vuvuzela. Touch your breast. Touch yourself. And receive your miracle. I'm praying right now. Say,
"Jesus, you are healing me now. "Devil, you go out." Out in the name of Jesus! Power in the name of Jesus! Touch the radio right
now. God is healing you. Tomorrow we are continuing,
nine o'clock until 10 o'clock, This is Prophet PFP Motsoeneng, saying, it's incredible, it's happening. Ba! God bless you. - [Radio Announcer] Incredible Happenings by Prophet PFP Motsoeneng
on Kasie FM 97.1. - [Reggie] How many people would you get to listen to your show? - This is over 200,000. - 200,000, yes. - Yeah, yeah.
- Wow. - [Reggie] Is this an
extension of the church? - It's an outreach because here you also hear of the disasters that are happening in the communities. - Right.
- Yeah. Problems that we didn't know about. Touching stories. Then
we get involved in that. You find what is happening,
you can go there to the people and deal with their issues. - I'm gonna ask you one
more question before you go. It sounded like you were asking people to bring their underwear
to the church on Sunday because you wanted to bless that. - That's right.
- Now, for somebody from, I guess, quite a traditional
Christian church, I can imagine them not
really getting that. - If we have never experienced something, like you, where you come from. You have never experienced
what we are talking about, but we don't have to wait
for you to understand because you are not in this
world, you know, in our world. You are in another world. (upbeat pop music) Thanks, boss. My host, my master. - Right. (laughs)
- My dream. - You can see that again.
- My boss! - Again.
(Mboro laughs) (tense music) - Mboro is right. I don't understand this
form of Christianity. And it bothers me that a man of the cloth can be a self-made millionaire. I don't agree with what he's doing. I've said it. I don't. He believes that he is giving a service, he's delivering a service, and therefore he should
be paid for it. (sighs) If you are selling cars, yeah, maybe. But you're not, you're
selling hope and faith. (upbeat dance music) After just a couple of days, I've pretty much made
up my mind about Mboro. But here, young and intelligent people are devoted to his church. So maybe I'm missing the point. Hello. Hello, guys.
- Hi. I've come to meet
21-year-old Fifi and Kiki. Good to meet you, finally. After Mboro's call-out,
they're shopping for underwear to be blessed at Sunday's service. And I'm determined to get
to the bottom of this. Blessing underwear, what
issues is that covering? - There are a lot of stories
with things that happen under the, you know. I remember where a lady had worms coming out of her biscuit. (both laughing) - Oh, I remember the story.
- So they had to take raw liver so that
those worms couldn't eat her, 'cause the worms would eat her if she didn't have any kind of liver. - I'm trying to get it. I'm trying to understand why this is normal in
your world and, genuinely, I'm still not convinced.
- Getting it. - I'm still not getting it. - I'm black, so we obviously believe that you can be bewitched. - Yeah, but I'm black, too,
and I don't believe it. But you're not from here. Until you go through a certain path. - Right. - And understand where other
people are coming from, then you'll never understand. - Yeah.
- Okay. All right. Shall we get
your underwear, then? - Yeah, sure.
- We gonna do this? (woman chuckling) I'm sorry, this is just so surreal.
- Yeah, bikinis. - How do you decide what pants you're gonna show in church? - [Kiki] Gorgeous ones! (women giggling) - This is just really surreal for me. I mean, first and foremost,
shopping for underwear with women makes me uncomfortable, anyway. But shopping for underwear
to show in church. - Bikinis.
- It's just normal for them. They're just going for it. - And she had to open them. (laughing) - Of course, I have to go.
And it's the wrong thing. - [Reggie] So a thong is
out of the question, yeah? - [Kiki] No. I don't like thongs. - Not a big fan of that.
- Yeah. Me too. - I think I've found the
pants that I could buy. Shall I buy a multi-pack, so he can bless me for a whole week? - [Kiki] For the whole week? Do you guys have XXXL, anyone? - Oh, my goodness.
- XXXL, no? I'll go with large,
then. I'll go with large. Sunday's undies might be sorted but I'm really none the wiser. I don't live in a world with
evil spirits and demons. (ominous music) To help me understand how
real witchcraft is here, the girls are taking me to a place they don't normally like to go. What is that? It's like a roadkill
hall of fame over here. In downtown Johannesburg
sits Faraday Market where they sell anything and everything a witch doctor may need
for blessings or curses. What would something like
that be used for, then? 'Cause there's like an animal
with its guts hanging out literally just there. What do you reckon? - This, for me, is freaking
me out. I don't wanna lie. Everything is just disturbing. - [Reggie] Yeah. - And they also use human body parts. - We believe, you know. - So you are saying that
your church believes that a lot of the bad things that
are happening are down to some of the workings of places like this? How does that happen, then? - It boils down to a sacrifice. - Okay, you guys, you're young,
you are very switched on, and you're clearly quite
against what happens here. Is that more to do with your religion or is that more to do with you just not believing
that any of this works and it's just strange? - We don't... Not that it doesn't work, it does work. Hence why we are fighting against it. - So do you see yourself
as protected by the church and by what happens there? - I see myself protected by God, firstly, and then the prayers at church. (tense music) - I can see that in Fifi and Kiki's world, they need a guardian angel, and Mboro provides that in his church. But as I'm not part of his
fold, I'm not protected. I'm on my way to go and meet
Mboro's legal representation (laughs) because I have been called in to have a conversation about the filming. Mboro doesn't wanna
speak to me at the moment and he's got his legal
representation to explain exactly why. I feel kind of in trouble. In fact, you know like
when you were a kid, and you get in trouble for
something you haven't done, that's what I feel like right now. (upbeat suspenseful music) Hello. How's it going? Good to see you, it really
is. Good to see you. What's going on? - What is going on? Yes. Basically, we've been
sent by the Prophet Mboro to come and speak to you
about a number of things that he feels very strongly about. For an example, he says, if he says to people they
must stand up and say, leading them with prayers in church, he noted that you were seated
and your face just said, "Okay, this is the part
where I don't fit in." Do you know what I mean?
- Okay. - And even to him, as a leader, it sends negative connotations to say, you know, "We respect our
Father, we respect our prophet, "and here comes of this man "who just wants to do as he pleases." - In terms of me taking part in a prayer, as I'm not religious, it would be more of a
disrespect on my part for me to pretend to pray than
for me to not pray at all. - Respect him for being the prophet of God that he's anointed to be,
and that's it, really. I'll convey the message
to him and hope that he at least gives you
time, just some time. - Okay. We'll stay in touch, I guess. Thank you. Nice to meet you. Lovely to meet you. I can understand a religious leader having a problem with someone being in their church and not praying. I get that. But the trouble with this conversation is that that feeling of disrespect
extends to everywhere, extends outside, extends to
the way I am talking to him, the things that I am asking of him. I think I've just revoked
my fan-club membership. (tense music) Hang on a second. Is this him?
Maybe he's changed his mind. Maybe he's decided to come and see me. If that is the case,
I'd be very surprised. Yes, his security. I have no idea what's going on right now. What I do know is that there's a man, in one of these cars, part
of this fleet of Mercedes, currently surrounded by
men with machine guns, coming to see me, and
he's pissed. (laughing) So makes me a little uneasy. (suspenseful music) I could be going crazy, but he was bloody driving one
of those Mercs, wasn't he? Just here and then he's gone. This is ridiculous. Oh, dear. (pensive music) (gentle suspenseful music) The following morning, it's back on. To my surprise, I'm being
invited to take a drive into a township with the
prophet and his team. But after yesterday, I'm
taking a new approach. Hence the shaved face and
the pressed white shirt. I just hope it's up to scratch
and up to his expectations. Hello, guys. Hello, Prophet. - Hi, how are you?
- How are you doing? Thank you for giving us
another day with you. I appreciate it. I'm gonna jump in my little car. It's not as fast as yours, so it might not keep up,
so go slowly, please. - No, it's cool.
- All right. - Ha! (car horn honks) - He seemed happy to see me. It was a bit weird, really. I'm eating and running right now because I'm officially part
of the prophet's convoy. WHat's that? He's got three Mercedes
and a big, shiny Chrysler, all heading to this township, and they've all got
their hazard lights on. It's almost like royalty
or an important politician is moving from one part
of the city to the next. (upbeat suspenseful music) We're off to a township called Barcelona. Here in South Africa, 12 million people still live in shacks. According to Mboro, every year, his church
spends over 600,000 pounds helping communities like this one. All of a sudden, the convoy pulls over. Even a prophet has to eat. - I wanna grab some- - [Reggie] Snacks? - This language is difficult! Snacks! I'll get a snack. - Without warning, we're
mobbed by adoring fans. We've got people screaming
at him from the bus. (crowd yelling) What amazes me is that despite having the
security team of a rock star, Mboro doesn't have the ego of one, embracing each and every person he meets. (Mboro speaks in foreign language) - [Mboro] A snack! (woman speaks in foreign language) Snacking, yeah. - I wish I understood.
What did she just say? I don't understand what she's saying. - She says maybe she
will get some blessings. - Ah.
- Yes. - From the snacks? - Yeah, I've already touched
him and I can feel that he changed my heart and I feel better. - You know, I'm not the
only one who blesses you. You also blessed me with
your smile. (laughing) Skin! (laughing) - Does that mean we get
some free Doritos, then? - No! - No?
- She's working. (Reggie laughs)
It's exactly that. - [Woman] Exactly - Like many of the
people Mboro preaches to, he grew up in poverty, selling fruit on the side of the road, and he knows how to connect with them.' Do you know what's really funny, right? I tend to do a lot of interviews and following around musicians and actors and football stars
and celebrities and stuff, and that's the only time that
I see things like that happen. - I'm a people's person. I believe I'm great, I'm special, but I still believe I'm human. And I must put somebody down there up. I don't believe success is
just wearing nice clothes and driving cars and looking
down at other people. I don't like people like that. Maybe I suffered too much
and I was not treated well. - When did you suffer?
Was it your childhood, or? - The way I grew up,
even when I was a pastor, people honor people
because of what they have and I didn't have, but
I rose with nothing. I took the word, I took faith, I took God. - Let's hit the road. - Okay. - The sun is up.
(car horn beeps) - Off the back of just
chatting to him now, it sounds like I'm speaking
to a self-made millionaire, you know? Which I am. He's quite
clearly a celebrity. I mean, look at this, this
is insane. And he likes it. In fact, he loves it, which is probably why he's
switched from his Mercedes to his convertible, so he can be seen driving into the township. (exhales) Arriving in Barcelona, the
struggles people face here are plain to see. (gentle upbeat music) Nearly 45% of black South
Africans live in poverty. The country boasts one of
the highest crime rates in the world, averaging 15 murders a day. It's hardly surprising the hope that came with the fall of
apartheid is now in short supply. When you drop someone like Mboro in the middle of all of this, you can see why they idolize him. He is, at least on the
surface level, a man of God. He is wealthy, he's
successful, and he's self-made. As soon as we stop, once again, the prophet is in his element. - [Mboro] Boom! - It seems like everybody
here, whenever he comes round, all comes out to see him. Why do people love him so much? - If you are ill and he prays
for you, you'll be healed. - I think my judgments are
based entirely in my world. But in their world,
everything he stands for and everything he says is of value. Mboro is here to meet surviving members of a family hit by tragedy. A 14-year-old boy murdered
both his mother and siblings. (woman speaks in foreign language) - So when she peeped through the window, she found a kid with an ax,
chopping the mum with an ax. (woman speaks in foreign language) So she says she was afraid to come out because she heard the kid is
involved in satanism practice. I just wanted to see what we can do in bringing some changes here. - [Reggie] Mboro has already helped pay to rebuild the family home, but there's still a lot of
fear and desperation here, so he gathers the family and neighbors inside one of the shacks. - Prayer changes things. It doesn't matter where you come from, it's where you are and where you're going. I was poor, but today I'm
among the millionaires. You live in this, you'll come out, as long as a shack is not inside of you. You are specially precious.
You are black and powerful. You are African power. Let's pray this prayer. Dear Jesus. - [All] Dear Jesus. - [Mboro] I'm a victor. - [All] I'm a victor. - [Mboro] Not a victim. - [All] Not a victim. - [Mboro] I can come out. - [All] I can come out.
- I can succeed. - [All] I can succeed. - Through Jesus Christ. - [All] Through Jesus. (people chattering) - I don't agree with the
blessing of inanimate objects and making people pay for those, but I do love the message that he gives when he's stood in a tin shack with a group of poor people, filling them with hope and encouragement. It's messing with me,
because that business, and all of the dark connotations
that I'm throwing at it, is helping so many people to
feel better about themselves and to feel a level of hope
that they can beat the situation that they're actually in. I don't even know what
to think. (laughing) (gentle music) The following day, I was supposed to join Mboro
on another township visit, but what I really want to understand is why it's acceptable here for the prophet to profit
from his congregation. So I decided to cancel our meeting. I might as well talk to the
people that know him best, his congregation. I've come to a township called Vosloorus to see 18-year-old Senele, who I met during last Sunday's service. - Hello. Hey, Senele, hello. - Hi, Reggie.
- Hello. How are you? - [Senele] I'm fine, thanks. How are you? - I'm good. Is this Mum?
- Yes. - Yes, this is my mum.
- Hello. - How are you? - [Reggie] I'm very good, thank you. - [Senele] Here is my little paradise. I'm a bit disappointed,
I've not seen any... Oh, there it is. I was gonna say, I can't
see any petroleum jelly. - No, of course, you have to have it. Have you tried this stuff? - Have I? I haven't, no.
- You haven't? - [Reggie] He is smoldering
on the front though. Look at that for a face. - Isn't he so hot? (Reggie laughs)
I have a hot dad. - It's quite funny that you
refer to him as your dad. Is that what everybody at the church does? - Yes, you refer to him as your dad because you take him as
your spiritual father. - So, how much does this cost
you when you buy one of these? - 50 bucks. - 50 rand? So that's what? Three pound? Do you put it on every day? - Yes, I do, I put it on every day. - Do you know what? I need to do this. I'm gonna try some.
- Ooh, Reggie is trying this! You should probably pray. - Oh, I don't know if I wanna do that. - Okay, let's see. What
are you praying for? You can probably pray
while rubbing it, be like, "God, please de-ash my knees. "In the name of Jesus, "I pray with the
anointing of the prophet." Reggie, you have to say it. - Oh, sorry.
(Senele laughs) De-ash my knees.
- Ya. - I need it. Prophet, help me out. My knees are looking a little gray. - Oh, my, Reggie, that sounds so fake. - Hopefully, this will
change things in my kneecaps. - Oh, my, Reggie! (laughs)
- Forever and ever. - And then say, "In the name of Jesus." - I don't know if I should. - No, say it, Reggie.
- Why? - Okay, wait, why shouldn't you? - Because I don't believe in Christianity and I think it's wrong for me
to say something like that. Even if it is just for jokes,
I don't think it's fair. - Okay, so you'd rather use
the prophet's name for jokes, but not Jesus? You see, it shows something, Reggie. - What does it show? - It shows that as much
as you don't believe, you respect the man so much, so why don't you just try him out? - Do you think that what you just said sounded like you hold the... Oh!
- Whoa! What just happened? - I don't know. I don't know! (laughing) (Senele laughing) But I do know it's weirding me out.
- That was freaky! Please tell me that was an accident. Please tell me you did that. Was that you? Was that you? - Was that you?
- It was your bag. - Oh, okay.
- Oh, thank goodness. - [Senele] Was that you?Thank God! (both laughing) - [Reggie] Oh, wow, look
at this. This is amazing. Wow, look at all this. We have gotta go for the boom shakalaka. - Of course. - The boom shakalaka it is.
- Boom shakalaka. - And what's this, beef? - Yeah, this is the chops. - Oh, wow. Okay. As the rest of the family
join us for a meal, the time seems right to ask Senele and her 23-year-old sister, Tuli, about the thing that bugs me the most. He is doing so much good
in terms of providing hope, but I struggle with the
monetary side of things. You, as the congregation, give
a lot of money to the church. - Nowhere do I remember him
holding a gun to anybody's head and saying, "You are forced to give," no. It is a personal choice
for somebody to give. Well, he's a rich man. He drives a lot of nice cars,
he wears expensive suits. I personally wouldn't want to be led by a pastor who doesn't
seem to be, how do I put it? Progressing in life. Because I'd really have
a problem with that. I'd want myself to progress, I'd want myself to get somewhere. Why would I want to be led by somebody who's never gone anywhere? - That makes sense. So where
does he make his money? - His life is dedicated to the church. - Yeah.
- So, if the church didn't take care of him, I'd
really have a problem with that and if his life is a reflection of how well his church
is taking care of him, then clearly our lives
should be a reflection of how well he's taking care of us. Do you not agree? - That makes sense.
- That makes sense, right? - I don't know if I
agree, but it makes sense. - [Tuli] Okay. - It makes total sense. See you later, guys. Bye-bye. Speaking to the girls, I realized that Mboro's followers are happy to pay him
generously for his services. They don't feel the prophet
is exploiting them at all. (car horn honking) So I wonder if I've misjudged him. (gentle rock music) (gentle music) Unfortunately, I may not even get the chance
to tell him face-to-face. Canceling our meeting yesterday hasn't gone down too
well with the prophet. I've just had a text from Mboro. "Made time, you not avail.
You make time, am not avail." I kind of get from that
he's a little bit annoyed and that he isn't gonna make
time for me to see him today, so I'm just gonna call him and see if he's gonna let me come round. Yeah, he so knows they aren't. - [Mboro] The fire of God is
burning every satanic object, every satanic spirit in the name of Jesus, all the powers of witches and
wizards, Satan worshipers. - Well, I think he saved my
number to don't answer. (laughs) Aw! Well, that, I guess, is that. (downbeat music) (upbeat rock music) And as if on cue, the heavens open. I'm not sure if it's a sign, but I've decided to take my
chances with the prophetic rains and the prophet's fury, and attend early to catch Mboro before Sunday's service. I don't know how this is gonna work. I just hope they let me in. Here we go. Hello, mate. Oh. That was a funny look. (chuckles) Gave him a wave and he just
gave me a big old stare. (tense music)
(rain pattering) I have no idea if the prophet will give me the time of day to explain
myself, but I'm gonna try anyway. Hey, man, you all right?
Hey, how's it going? It would be really great to come in and join the congregation today. Is it possible to do that?
- No, Reggie. The problem is, here in South Africa, in my space, I've got the way I do things. If people don't honor their
ways, I don't take it. - [Reggie] Is that a problem? Do you think that I've acted
bigger than the church? - Yes. - [Reggie] That's not the case at all. I think it's just a
miscommunication, that's the problem. - The way you talk, we don't speak like that in South Africa. There is a level of respect,
Reggie. You don't have it. - Okay.
- Understand here, when you talk to anybody,
we have white people here, but you're whiter than white people. I don't like arrogance,
I don't like pride. Humble yourself. You are big in your world, you
are big in somebody's world. Humble yourself, go down, understand what is
happening in other people. (somber music) - I've never had my
blackness questioned before. As much as that offends me, I kind of understand
why Mboro is so upset. Up until a couple of days ago, I was very cynical about
the prophet and his church. Yeah, in all honesty,
I'm not mad at the man. I'm not angry at the man. I get it. I want to see the service with open eyes and, luckily, the prophet
has agreed to let me in. - Hallelujah.
- Amen! (Mboro rapping in foreign language) (upbeat music)
(audience cheering) (Mboro rapping in foreign language) - Oh! Beautiful people.
(audience applauding) I'm so blessed to talk to people like you. You are the best thing
that ever happened to me. Ha!
(audience applauding) - [Reggie] A few minutes into the service, and it seems Mboro has chosen
me as this week's sermon. - Reggie Yates, right? Give it up for Reggie Yates
who will come on the stage. (audience applauding)
(audience cheering) Welcome to Incredible Happenings. - Thank you. You mentioned, literally
outside, when we were talking, the idea of different worlds. I am from a completely
different world to you and culturally, I'm from a
very different world as well, and I understand that the way you worship is eternally different to the way that my family or I
might have experienced. Does that make sense? - You will never be wishing in your life. You never woke up one day, you found yourself with a rotten leg, and the doctor's telling
you it has to be amputated and then for you to be okay. Why do all the people come here? These are the people who
chose, "I will not give up. "I will not give in to my problems, "my situation, I'm going to
find something beyond science, "beyond human understanding,
to come out of my cold bed." (audience applauding)
(audience cheering) - I don't necessarily understand it and a lot of the things that you preach, a lot of the things that
happen here in South Africa, I don't agree with all of them, but what I do think that I'm
gonna take away from this trip is what you give these people. I can see that you give everybody
in here help, so, respect. (audience applauding)
(audience cheering) You know, a lot of people watch you and watch what you do and are fans of you, and I was blown away
when I went to the shop and I saw that you had these T-shirts. (audience applauding)
(audience cheering) (Mboro laughs) It looks good on me, right? Yeah? - [Mboro] Well, that's
me. That's me. (laughs) - "Power!" That's you, isn't it? See? I'm learning, I'm learning. - It's good to have you. God bless you. (audience applauding) - We've made our peace.
Now the show must go on. (Mboro singing in foreign language) It's time to bless. And we've all got our... (Kiki laughs) Mboro's just seen mine. - (laughing) Yo! (audience cheering) What is this? (audience cheering) - [Woman] Underwear! - Do you like what I'm doing, or not? - [Woman] We do. - Must we stop? - [All] No! - Because somebody doesn't like it? - [All] No! - Just touch it. Let me pray. The fire of the Holy Spirit, touch! In the name of Jesus, I come against you beasts, you animal. (Mboro speaks in foreign language) (audience murmuring) - [Reggie] Faith is a
crazy, powerful thing. - All invisible demons, I flush them out. - As a nonbeliever, I'm not sure if I will ever
fully understand people waving their underwear or holding their private parts in church. - [Mboro] Hallelujah. Give God his love. (audience applauding)
- Thank you, Jesus. - But like Mboro would say,
we are from different worlds. ♪ It's incredible ♪ ♪ It's happening all the time ♪ All right. Done. - Thank you so much for coming. - I've stolen his catchphrase. Nice to meet you both. Take care. - Lovely to meet you both.
- You too. Thank you. - Hope to see you soon. - Yes, take care.
- Bye. - Bye.
- Bye-bye. Just a few days ago, I made
Mboro out to be a charlatan. I can see now that says
as much about me as him. I didn't expect that at all. (gentle uplifting music) I didn't understand the
importance of faith, coming out here, you know. I now know what faith can do. I don't know if it's what
I want, but I get it. And more importantly,
I think I respect it. And I didn't a week ago. (upbeat rock music)
Screw these guys. Conning people out of their money
Confidence trickster uses primitive superstition to fleece credulous idiots. It's hardly the first time and certainly won't be the last.
JFC, this lot is bat shit crazy! This snake oil saleswoman deserves all the money he cons out of them. Hope the receiver of revenue get his cut.
Omg, I remember watching this documentary on TV. Love Reggie Yates! It was so surreal watching this because of the blatant way this dude was manipulating people. I remember the part when he was seriously upset that Reggie wouldn't buy an expensive suit.