Church battlefield ‘prophesied’
Guns stolen from police station found at site
THE churchgoers at the controversial Mancoba Angel Ministry Church – which was called a satanic cult by the minister of police – had no idea that their leaders, who they call “kings”, were involved in any criminality.
Though none of the congregants were employed and they relied on the church leaders for everything, scores of women and girls “rescued” by authorities at the weekend said they had never asked where the resources came from. The church, founded by Siphiwo Mancoba and his wife Nombongo and run by their seven sons, made headlines after police shot and killed seven people, three believed to be Mancoba brothers, on Friday.
The seven are believed to be behind the slaughter of five police officers and an off-duty soldier in Ngcobo last week. Another 10 arrests were made at the church premises while others managed to escape arrest.
The latest developments revived a call from the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Commission) for a law to govern churches.
Speaking to the Dispatch on Saturday at the crime scene, one woman said it had been prophesied that the church would one day turn into a battlefield. A stoney-faced Thabisa Mkokeli, 33, originally from Komani, told the Dispatch how they were told to remain calm inside their zinc shelter as a heavy exchange of gunfire erupted in the churchyard on Friday. “They are our kings, looking after us, healing us, feeding us and doing everything for us on instructions from God. They get messages from God,” she said. Asked whether she was aware that the so-called kings had been killed by the police, Mkokeli said “they are not dead – they speak to me; they are angels”.
Mkokeli quit her truck-driving job in 2015 and joined the church after an ear infection, which she said doctors could not heal, was cured at the church. Asked if she knew about any criminal activities run by the church leaders, Mkokeli replied: “That is news to me.”
Another congregant, Nobulawu Lusafeni, 48, of Centane said: “How was I to know what young men were doing with their time at night in their rooms? We don’t sleep together.”
In a bizarre outburst Lusafeni claimed church founder Siphiwo, who died in 2015, had made a prophecy about the churchyard turning into a battlefield. “I don’t feel anything. I’m not hurt about what happened here. I knew this day would come.”
Asked what would happen next in the prophecy, Lusafeni said “just watch and see”.
CRL Commission chair Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva said her commission had instituted an investigation into practices at the Mancoba Angels Ministry in Ngcobo last year after 18 children, some as young as three, were taken by social workers who had raided the church.
The investigation had concluded that it was not a church but a cult.
“We are not shocked [by the latest developments]. We have said it over and over that it is a cult and it is going to explode at some point,” she told the Daily Dispatch in a telephonic interview over the weekend.
“We said repeatedly in parliament that it was a disaster because there is no legislation. Everybody else is legislated [but not churches].”
She said they had been pleading with lawmakers to draft a legislative framework to regulate even the socalled “charismatic” churches.
“We have seen pastors feeding people snakes and others spraying people with insect repellant. The longer it takes to do it [pass the law] the more Christianity is plunged into disrepute because of people like these [Seven Angels Ministry],” she said.
Parliament’s portfolio committee on police will meet the national commissioner of police General Khehla John Sitole in the next two weeks to be briefed on the Ngcobo police station killings.
Committee chairman Frans Beukman‚ who will attend tomorrow’s memorial service for the victims‚ said critical matters had come to the fore in relation to crime intelligence‚ technology‚ tactical training and security measures at police stations. The committee welcomed a special debate on the incident scheduled for Wednesday in the National Assembly.
Parliament’s portfolio committee on cooperative governance and traditional affairs chairman Mzameni Richard Mdakane said churches should be governed by some form of code of conduct.
“Criminals are criminals, whether they call themselves priests or not. Regardless, they must be dealt with through the laws of the country.”
He said a self-regulatory or state body should be established to monitor churches.
Police Minister Fikile Mbalula told a large crowd on Saturday: “That thing that has captured their minds is not a church but a satanist place of witchcraft.”
Safety MEC Weziwe Tikana said the church premises would be demolished.
The 10 who were arrested are expected to appear at the Ngcobo Magistrate’s Court today.
Tomorrow there will be a memorial service for the deceased police officers and off-duty soldier at the Methodist Church. —