Meet the Nigerian mega pastor shouting hallelujah after bidding to buy iconic Cape Town building

On the morning of Sunday, 1 March, Pastor John Anosike had big news for his congregants.

“I don’t know if you heard that [the] Good Hope Centre has been sold,” said Anosike.

“We bought it.”

Footage shows the congregation exploding with joyful applause.

The Good Hope Centre: the vast, domed exhibition hall on Sir Lowry Road that has loomed over Cape Town’s eastern approach since 1976. Designed as a conference and events venue for the city by pioneering Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi, the 24,843m² structure is one of the most recognisable pieces of modernist architecture in the Western Cape.

Now the leader of an End Times evangelical church says he’s bought it following an auction held by the City of Cape Town to sell it off, along with 52 other City-owned properties on 26 February. But the City is keeping mum for now on exactly who cast the winning bid.

Good Hope Centre went for a steal

The hammer went down on the Good Hope Centre at R135-million. In recent years, it had fallen into dereliction and will reportedly require hundreds of millions of rands in renovation.

Nevertheless, a property developer who spoke to Daily Maverick on condition of anonymity described R135-million as an “extraordinarily good price” for a commercial property of this size and history on the Foreshore.

“For perspective, much smaller 4,800m² mixed-use buildings in the area have listed for R125-million,” the developer said. The Good Hope Centre is more than five times that size.

Good party councillor Suzette Little also raised her eyebrows about the price, saying in a statement: “The reported sale price of R135-million translates to an effective R129.3-million once the R4.7-million in recent upgrades, funded by the public, is taken into account.”

Little continued: “At the same time, provision has been made for a further R100-million in outer-year allocations linked to the site. On its face, this raises serious questions. How does disposing of a strategic inner-city asset at that level, after recent public investment and future budget commitments, amount to financial prudence?”

The City initially described the auction as “successful” and announced on social media that it had “successfully auctioned off 53 City-owned properties, including the iconic Good Hope Centre”.

The auction, carried out by the Claremart Auction Group, required prospective bidders to pay a R100,000 refundable deposit. Both foreign and local bidders were welcome.

News24 reported that the Good Hope Centre was sold “to a buyer identified only as John”.

It was Cape Town tabloid the Daily Voice which first linked the Good Hope Centre purchase to Pastor John Anosike. The outlet reported that Anosike’s fellow pastor, Thelma Lewis, had posted on social media: “Today has marked a day of victory for the church and Pastor John Anosike. The Good Hope Centre is a gate in Cape Town, and the church has taken their position at the gate of the city. February is declared a month of victory.”

In response to questions from Daily Maverick on Monday, the City seemed to walk back some of its previous definitiveness around the auction, saying: “The City has neither accepted bids for any of the sites as yet, nor has the validity of the bids been confirmed as it is necessary to first conduct detailed vetting and due diligence in the coming weeks.”

The City also said: “Regarding the Good Hope Centre in particular, should it be established that a qualifying bid has been received, this will be vetted in detail to ensure that the bidder complies fully with the requirements” – which include heritage restrictions.

That caveat aside, the announcement has focused attention on the man who made it. Who is John Anosike, and does his organisation have the financial and institutional credibility to steward a 24,843m² heritage landmark in the centre of a major city?

The name’s Bond. John Bondservant

The 45-year-old Anosike was born in Nigeria and is the leader of a church called Spirit Revelation Ecclesia, commonly abbreviated to SRE, which he appears to have established in Cape Town around 2010. The precise date of his personal relocation to South Africa is unknown.

“Christ comes first and immediately after that comes money, financial freedom, then third comes family,” says the SRE website.

SRE is an End Times-oriented charismatic ministry which pushes the Prosperity Gospel: essentially, the belief that God wants people to be rich, and that the best way of achieving personal wealth is by donating money to your church and pastor to prove your commitment to God.

SRE’s giving infrastructure is detailed and structured. The ministry operates a range of financial contribution programmes, including one called “First Fruit”, for which the designated FNB bank account is held in the personal name of Ikechukwu John Anosike rather than an organisational entity.

In January 2024, a Nigerian media outlet reported that Anosike had instructed followers who considered him a “mentor or spiritual father” to bring him “their full January salary”.

The pitch to prospective financial partners is elaborate. Under the heading “Why partner with The Bondservant of Christ” – one of Anosike’s chosen monikers; another is simply “Saint John” – the ministry’s materials promise that donors will be “visited constantly in the realms for divine intervention, instruction and deliverance”, that a “specific ministering Angel of this mandate will be assigned” to them, and that they will become “a shareholder in the ministry of realms and dimensions”.

One of the specific causes to which followers can donate is the “Good Hope Vow”, which is described as the “Good Hope Centre Giving Platform” and accompanied by a picture of the Cape Town building. In the comments section, followers from around the world have pledged their support and donations. Americans may donate dollars to the cause, which are collected through a Florida-domiciled company called Beugold Crystal Corporation.

Beugold Crystal Corporation appears to sell Anisoke’s books to US and Polish audiences. The same company name appears locally: a South African entity called Beugold Import Export and Trading, registered at 284 Voortrekker Road in Maitland, serves as another vehicle, with Anisoke and his wife recorded as directors.

That Maitland address is also the current premises of the church itself, listed on City records as a warehouse. Anosike’s personal residential addresses on record for the last few years include a number of properties in the affluent suburb of Constantia.

SRE’s doctrinal materials include the assertion that its adherents can “not see physical death”. Among its promotional materials from the period of the Covid-19 pandemic was a benediction reading “Covid-19 impossible”.

The ministry’s “About” page describes Anosike’s calling in terms of divine mandate rather than institutional training. No theological degrees, seminary qualifications, or denominational ordination credentials are documented.

On Anosike’s verified Facebook account, a post dated 5 December 2023 titled “The dangers of sexual immorality” states that “adultery, premarital sex, pornography and homosexual relations are all outside God’s design, which makes them sin”.

It is unclear what plans Anosike has told his followers he has in mind for the Good Hope Centre, if his bid is accepted.

In response to questions sent to his church by Daily Maverick on Monday, we received an automated response inviting us to visit “The Dome of Truth” to receive “a divine touch from God”. DM