The Zim Pastor at the centre of the video sex scandal has been named as Lloyd Gangate of Covenant Life Church  in Johannesburg.  Gangate was caught in flagrante delicto on closed circuit television (CCTV) mounted by a suspicious congregant’s husband.

The husband, Mr Masvanhise, works in Saudi Arabia but was alerted to pastor Gangate’s frequent visits to his home by complex security guards.

Allegations of an affair between Mrs Masvanhise and Mr Gangate were previously put before the church but were vehemently denied by Gangate according to a communique released by the church. In the video it is also alleged that Mrs Masvanhise was previously questioned about the allegations of an affair but denied any impropriety.

It was due to this state of affairs that a suspicious Mr Masvanhise then secretly installed the CCTV equipment in his matrimonial bedroom. The equipment could be remotely accessed via the internet. On 19 June 2015 Pastor Lloyd Gangate was filmed engaged in sexual congress with Mrs Masvanhise on CCTV in Mr Masvanhise’s matrimonial bedroom.

 

In the video Mrs Masvanhise can be seen anointing the bedroom after making a call most likely to confirm the Pastor’s attendance. Perhaps  following in the footsteps of the loose woman mentioned in Proverbs 7:10-23, Mrs Masvanhise turns on the electric blanket to keep the bed toasty in anticipation of the tryst with Gangate.  The pastor then walks in takes off his clothes and hops into bed with her. You then see rapid furtive movement under the covers.

In an interview today with ZimEye.com,  Senior Pastor and general secretary, Dr Msindo expressed concern not only for the spouses that were hurt by the infidelity but for other potential victims of the perverse Gangate.  Dr Msindo also stated that the church had tried to reach out to Mr Masvanhise in an effort to apologise but this was rebuffed. Mrs Gangate has been offered counselling.

 ZimEye.com has established that Gangate was swiftly fired as the shepherd to the South Africa flock soon after reported himself to the overseer. Gangate is also barred from contacting members of the Covenant Life Church according to the following statement released by the Church.

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STATEMENT OF COVENANT LIFE CHURCH

29 June 2015

From: The General Secretary

 Covenant Faith Ministries

To: The Churches of Covenant Faith Ministries

REF: Adultery Case of Mr. Lloyd Gangata

On the night of 26 June 2015, the Overseer of South Africa received a call from Mr. Lloyd Gangata with shocking news of his own infidelity. When he heard the news, the Overseer speedily booked an air ticket to rush to the region where this had happened. He arrived in the afternoon of Saturday 27 June.

In the company of two senior leaders of the Ministry in the region, a Pastor and an Evangelist, the Overseer asked Mr Gangata to officially tell his story to the committee of three. He admitted that he committed adultery with a married woman.

We noted that Mr. Gangata hid this sin from us and had vehemently denied this wicked affair when he was confronted earlier by those who had suspicions. He did not seek any help from his seniors in the Ministry at any stage so that he could be freed from this adulterous entanglement.

We explained to Mr. Gangata the full implications of this shocking deed on his own marriage, the marriage of the lady that he violated, the branch of the church that had entrusted him with leadership, the numerous people who were being mentored by himself and those that looked up to him as a model of a pastor.

By committing adultery, Mr Lloyd Gangata has done the following:

• Violated the sanctity of marriage as a covenant, first and foremost in his own marriage

• Violated the sanctity of marriage of another couple. This will leave serious scars on them

• Severely impaired on the integrity of the church that had trusted him with pastoral responsibilities

• Severely affected relatives of at least four other families (and more) that are directly affected by this.

• Severely impacted negatively on some friends of the Church

The Church is not in a position to tolerate sin and hypocrisy of any form and this position stands. We stand guided

by the Word of God, which we believe is the ultimate arbiter and authority on matters pertaining to life and godli-ness as our constitution states clearly. Accordingly, it was decided by the panel that listened and considered Mr

Lloyd Gangata’s case as follows:

• That with effect from Saturday 27 June 2015, Mr. Lloyd Gangata is relieved of his responsibilities as a pastor

• That there is no intention at this stage and in the near future to entrust him with any leadership position

• That he is barred from ever visiting the branch or associating with any member of the church

• That he is hereby barred from acting for and/or speaking for or on behalf of the church anywhere and at any time,

• That relevant structures of the Ministry leadership will be available to help him to recover and become a repented

Christian on condition that he is willing to repent and on condition that he adheres to advise and counselling and fully recover and forsake sin

We are a Bible believing church that intends to balance the twin issues of Ministerial integrity and at the same time

helping the weak. We think that like everyone that has been caught in sin, Mr. Lloyd Gangata, disappointing as he has been to the church and wicked as he has behaved, deserves a chance to be helped in the manner that is clearly stated in Galatians 6 verses 1-4.

The Church that he was pastoring has a new leader placed over it. On 28 June early in the morning the rest of the

local church leaders were informed of the former Pastor’s behaviour. The Overseer also addressed the ordinary mem- bers the same day in the service. He asked members who could have been potentially violated to be in contact with

him so that appropriate assistance will be rendered. The wife of Mr. Gangata has been talked to and different sce- narios have been put to her in the light of what had happened. The Biblical perspective over this matter was made

known to her and we will respected her informed decision. She continues to receive counselling in this difficult time.

Her family has been informed about this and we keep engaging them on this unfortunate thing that happened. Like us, they remain seized with this matter.

We however regret that efforts to contact one of the affected parties has not been successful for many reasons. The overseer, on the night of 27 June tried to contact the husband whose wife was involved with Mr Gangata with the view to offer our apology as a church for this issue and to explain the detail that had come to our attention on this issue. We regret to say that the gentleman was not in a mood to talk to the church, and we fully understand and respect his feelings over this matter, for he is indeed a victim and is very much hurt by this unfortunate and uncalled for happening. Our feelings are for him and all that are in his family as they are also seized with this matter. We hope in the future an appropriate environment will be created for us to offer our apology as church for the damage that Mr Gangata inflicted on his marriage. We reckon that this will not be easy, but we are available, even as we also feel equally hurt and cheated by a man that we had trusted with such a huge Christian responsibility of pastoring, which requires one’s character to preach more than his words. We are also sorry to the world at large for this as this does not send a proper message to the world. As stated earlier, the church does not associate with adultery and we are sorry that this happened to someone whom people looked forard to, notwithstanding that he was a young and junior member of our pastoral team.

The church requests that the privacy of Mrs Gangata be respected in this difficult time. She is a victim and will re- quire healing. Equally, we request that the privacy of the man whose marriage was violated be respected and that any

pictures – be they still or motion – that any of our members who may have come into contact with him in any capac- ity be not distributed to any media, print, electronic or any other form. In these times, as in good times, we have to remain prayerful and give our whole to God.

The church reckons that a number of our members, especially those at the branch are hurt. We however ask that all our members exercise restraint, talk to your local pastors for emotional help on this issue, and lastly, continue to stand strong in the faith. We all still want to make it to heaven, so we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, acknowledging that we have our characters to build and lives to live for Christ. We won’t be distracted by this case that, although very serious, is one regrettable case that has happened amongst thousands of our believers who have, for years exercised themselves unto godliness.
 
Finally, be strong in the Lord.
 
Yours
 
E. Msindo, General Secretary
cc: Leaders
File: General Secretary