FBI's sexual abuse investigation into Christian sect reaches SA

A secretive church known as the Two by Twos has been rocked by widespread allegations of child sexual assault that has been taking place globally for many decades.

- By Marianne Thamm and Jeannette Wang

A secretive fundamentalist Christian sect, widely known as the Two by Twos but also as the No-Name Church, The Truth, or The Way, has been rocked by an international child sexual abuse and rape scandal.

Because of the secretive nature of the sect, as well as its lack of infrastructure and leadership hierarchy, membership figures of the Two by Twos are difficult to come by. However, according to a whistle-blower, it is estimated to be between 300,000 and four million.

Numbers in South Africa are also difficult to confirm, but the membership is believed to be from 20,000 to 50,000, according to insiders.

One of the alleged South African perpetrators in the abuse scandal, a “worker” in the church, is still a free man but the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and South African Police Service (SAPS) are closing in.

SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Amanda van Wyk confirmed this week that a historic sexual abuse case was being investigated by the police’s family violence, child protection and sexual offences (FCS) unit in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal.

According to Van Wyk, it is alleged that “the victim, now 51 years old, was sexually abused in 1983 around the age of nine by an alleged ‘pastor’ from the 2x2 church”.

The alleged perpetrator’s identity is known to “overseers” — a term used for the sect’s leadership. They have been dealing with the considerable blowback after shocking images of child sexual assault were discovered on the laptop of an overseer in 2022.

The identity of the alleged perpetrator, Worker A, is also known to Daily Maverick.

Men in the church are referred to as “workers” or “brothers”, and there are also “friends” of the fellowship.

The SA fallout and what preceded it