Prophets and profits: the art of the sell in Shepherd Bushiri’s YouTube sermons

By Ambrose Kolawole Dada, Research Assistant, Media and Communication, Nelson Mandela University
Janelle Vermaak-Griessel, Senior Lecturer and head of the Department of Media and Communication, Nelson Mandela University

In a widely viewed YouTube sermon called 3 Types of Keys, a preacher, dressed in a sky blue Italian suit, holds a microphone and speaks with great assurance about spiritual matters. Prophet Shepherd Bushiri is telling his audience that their financial struggles are not accidental.

He warns that business, marriage or social standing can easily crumble if believers don’t pay their tithes to the church every month – 10% of their earnings. This message is not presented as advice, but as divine instruction.
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