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MBABANE – A calf was found dead on a disputed piece of land at Elangeni, raising suspicion that it was poisoned.

The calf was found lying dead on a piece of land disputed by a resident, Irene Siphiwe Simelane and Elangeni Jericho Church led by a resident of the area. Siphiwe suspected that the calf died from poison she believed was sprayed on the passage leading to her kraal. Worth noting is that Siphiwe’s kraal is at the edge of the fence separating her fields and the church structure. She alleged that the poison was sprayed right at the entrance to the kraal.

“I removed my cattle after I had realised that the grass had been sprayed. I think my calf had grazed on the poisoned grass when I removed the cattle. I fear that I might lose more cattle because I do not know how many had fed on the grass before I removed them,” she said.

Siphiwe stated that she reported the matter to a community police member for formality, but did not receive justice.

Conducting

This happened a few weeks after Siphiwe had accused the members of the church of insulting her while conducting their prayer service on a Sunday. She made the accusations before Mbabane Magistrate Thembela Simelane, where she sought a restraining order against the members of the church.

She told the court that the hatred emanated from an ongoing conflict, where both parties are claiming ownership of the piece of land.

Siphiwe told the court that she did not want the Jericho Church to conduct their services within her compound because they damaged her fence and carried dangerous weapons. She told the court that she had been getting insults from the church members. She said since then, there had been no peace existing between the two parties.

“I am no longer at peace with the Jericho Church, following the bad things they did against me. They damaged my fence. Also, they always come with dangerous weapons like slashers anytime they come to church, thus making me and my family to live under threat. They also used a chemical to spray grass within my premises, which is dangerous to my livestock,” said Siphiwe. She also told the court that various verdicts were issued, stopping the Jericho Church from using the structure within her compound but they defied all of them.

Congregants

She then made a reference to an instance where Elangeni Inner Council issued a verdict forcing the congregants to go and build their church next to Sabbath Church after the council’s order.

“The Jericho Church has defied orders from Elangeni Inner Council and King’s liaison officer and that is why they had come back to conduct their services within the premises,” she said.

Siphiwe stated that they were puzzled by the trespassing of the church members last week, since they had no entrance to the structure built within her premises. She told the court that members of the Jericho Church had humiliated her. She said because of that, she reported the matter to the police but nothing had been done to date.

“I am not happy that they are still using my piece of land, which was given to me by Prince Shozi in 1994. There was no Jericho Church by that time,” said Siphiwe. The acting senior magistrate then asked the complainant if the Jericho Church continued to damage her property, threatening her and also insulting her after previous orders were issued. She said their coming back and using the structure within her compound was a sign that they were still a threat to her.

Pleading

“I am pleading with the court to stop the Jericho Church from using that structure because it is within my premises,” she said. Meanwhile, Scotch Magongo, the priest of the church, denied all the allegations levelled against them. He said they never even on a single day insulted nor threatened the complainant. “Siphiwe and her children destroyed the church’ pipe, water tap and broke the sticks holding the flags. She is the one who has destroyed our property as a church,” said Magongo. Before issuing the judgment, Magistrate Thembela told both parties to have their land dispute dealt with under Swazi Law and Custom. He said the court could only intervene if there was an issue of abuse involved.