South African pastor Hamilton Nala -- who claims he can cure HIV and Aids with his own brand of bottled "holy" water -- has likened homosexuality to the Aids virus, a "demon" that the pastor says he has identified and can now exorcise.
e.tv's CheckPoint series zoomed in on the Durban-based preacher's controversial beliefs on Tuesday night, when the pastor revealed the extent of his perspectives on same-sex love.
"I have come to realise, homosexuality is a spirit, whether you are born with it, whether you got it after you were born -- it's like Aids," he said on the show.
The TV series analysed how the pastor went about extricating a "gay demon" from one of his followers, just one of his estimated 30,000 congregation.
"The king was singing, and I felt something that I had never felt in my whole life," a follower said.
Since that feeling, her lifestyle has changed, she said.
Now, after 'King Nala" cured her, she is married with children.
"I also bought faith water when I came to Nala Mandate, and it is one of the products that has helped me in my journey."
Another of Nala's followers, "a converted lesbian", told how she had been cured of her homosexuality by using Nala's products.
"I grew up liking girls but I hid it," Thembeka Mbambo said on the show, "because I grew up in a Christian home and considered it shameful."
But then, she says, Nala discovered she had a male spirit inside her, which he then exorcised.
"I fell down and the spirit rose up and I saw the spirit in the image of a man. And I asked where it was going because it had been in me for years. The spirit said I am going because you are using Nala's products."
"I am very happy today. And I am free." she said.
The episode has garnered widespread outrage on social media, with even the pastor's Facebook fans saying he has gone too far this time.
"You Have No Right To Judge. The Bible Says So. Only God Does Things His Way. If You Can Heal Homosexuality Then Prove Us Wrong That You Can Heal Aids," wrote Tshepiso Mokgatsi.
Homosexuality cannot be cured and doesn't need a cure
Despite Pastor Nala's sentiments, it has been widely recognised for decades that same-sex attraction is a normal variant of human sexuality. The World Psychiatric Organisation (WPO), among numerous other international organisations, considers sexual orientation to be "innate and determined by [a range of factors including] biological, psychological, developmental and social factors".
By extension, it requires no cure.
"There is no sound scientific evidence that innate sexual orientation can be changed. Furthermore, so-called treatments of homosexuality can create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination flourish, and they can be potentially harmful," according to the WPO.
"The provision of any intervention purporting to "treat" something that is not a disorder is wholly unethical."
'If only Nala's holy water could end unemployment'
Many people on social media, recognising the falsehoods of Nala's sentiments, took the mickey out of him, suggesting he may be able to cure a range of actual issues in South Africa.
Unemployment?
Corrective rape?
#CorrectiveRape is what Pastor Nala should be curing, he should cure men from thinking they can fix women! #Checkpoint
— #NinjaMama (@nthabiseng_ms) October 3, 2017
Zuma?
Nala could not provide comment by the time of publishing. He said he would comment shortly.