Lethebo Rabalago – widely known as the Doom Pastor – was also found guilty of contravening the Agricultural Stock Remedies Act, a court ruling said.

Rabalago claims the insect repellent he used in 2016 could heal cancer and HIV.

A sentence is yet to be handed down after the verdict by Mookgopong Magistrates Court in Limpopo province.

On Friday, magistrate Frans Mahodi told the court the state had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt that the five people who laid assault charges were violated, South Africa’s national broadcaster SABC reports.

The magistrate said the fact that the complainants “were sprayed on their faces with Doom makes this offence [the] worst of its kind”.

He also revealed some of them had suffered “detrimental side effects… like coughing for more than seven months” after the incident.

Rabalago – who run the Mount Zion General Assembly – was arrested after it emerged he had used the product to “cure” his followers of various ailments in 2016.

In photos circulating on social media, he was seen spraying the insecticide directly into the eyes and various body parts of his congregants.

At the time, he told the BBC’s Nomsa Maseko in Johannesburg he had sprayed the face of one woman because she had an eye infection and claimed the woman was “just fine because she believed in the power of God”.

Rabalago’s case had been delayed on a number of occasions, most recently when his lawyer forgot his glasses.

South Africa has seen a wave of incidents where church members have been subjected to unorthodox rituals which purportedly healed them of various ailments.

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Source: BBC

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In a Facebook post, self-proclaimed prophet Lethebo Rabalago claims a pesticide called Doom can heal people.

The company that produces Doom warned of the risks of spraying the substance, while a government commission urged anyone effected to lodge complaints.

But the pastor has defended his actions, telling the BBC he is using unconventional methods to heal people.

The country has seen a wave of practices where church members have been subjected to unorthodox rituals to receive healing.

In photos circulating on Facebook and Twitter, Mr Rabalago, who runs the Mountzion General Assembly in the Limpopo province, is seen spraying the insecticide directly into the eyes and various body parts of his congregants.

He told the BBC’s Nomsa Maseko in Johannesburg that he had sprayed the face of one woman because she had an eye infection and claimed the woman was “just fine because she believed in the power of God”.

He also claims the spray can heal cancer and HIV.

“Doom is just a name, but when you speak to it to become a healing product, it does. People get healed and delivered through doom,” a post on the church’s Facebook account reads.

Testimonies of people who have supposedly been healed by Doom have also been posted on the Facebook page.

‘Alarming practice’

In another interview, posted on the eNCA website, the pastor is heard saying: “The truth is, Doom can heal people in the right way.”

But Tiger Brands, the company that makes the product, says it finds the practice “alarming”.

“[We] want to make very clear that it is unsafe to spray Doom or any aerosol onto people’s faces,” the company said in a statement.

“Doom has been formulated to kill specific insects which are detailed on the cans, and the packaging has very clear warnings which must be adhered to,” the statement added.

The company said it was trying to contact the pastor to ask him to stop the practice.

Our correspondent reports that the government has set up a commission to investigate motives behind these practices.

South Africa’s Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities has also condemned the practice, which it says is “detrimental” to the well-being of people.

“The CRL Rights Commission encourages everyone whose rights and beliefs have been violated to report such to the Commission,” it said in a statement.

Many social media users have condemned his antics.

Another South African pastor recently drew criticism after pictures of him driving over congregants were posted on social media.

In another incident, a pastor convinced members of his church to eat snakes and grass, and drink fuel for healing.

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