Thin blue line with cult church

ADEADLY shootout between police and a gang of suspected fugitives in a church filled with women and children reads like the script of a movie – except the guns were real and these were no actors.

Ngcobo, a small rural town in the Eastern Cape, was thrust into the limelight last Wednesday when five police officers and an offduty soldier were gunned down in an attack on the local police station. Two days later, yet another deadly gun battle ensued.

This time law enforcement had the upperhand. Seven men suspected of the police station attack were killed and 10 others arrested in the raid.

In the aftermath of the bloodshed, the attention has now shifted to Mancoba Seven Angels Ministries – a church run by the seven Mancoba brothers.

It is in this church where the fugitives have reportedly been hiding out since the Wednesday attack, according to the police. It is also alleged that three of the deceased were Mancoba brothers.

Dozens of women and children, who reportedly do not attend school or work, were removed from the premises. Villagers alleged it is more of a cult than a church and have for years been trying to shut it down.

The town of Ngcobo was on knife’s edge at the weekend as villagers again demanded that the church be demolished. Threats were made to burn the structure, which is still an active crime scene.

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula, who visited the town hours after both shootings, vowed that authorities would move to shut down operations at Mancoba Seven Angels Ministries.

The Daily Dispatch wrote about the church two years ago when 18 children were rescued by social workers and police. The raid followed allegations that children living at the church were being prevented from attending school, a practice social development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi slammed as being “illegal” and “unconstitutional”.

Residents and religious leaders took part in a march then, demanding the closure of the church. Sihlwayi promised her department would investigate but two years later, it would appear no action has been taken against the church or its leaders. However, the authorities are faced with a conundrum.

The Bill of Rights protects the rights of all its citizens to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion and freedom of association. Without conclusive evidence or people admitting to being kept against their will, what power do the authorities have to act?

However, freedom of religion can never be used as a defence to justify wrongdoing or criminality. Firstly, not allowing children of school-going age to leave the church premises is at odds with the country’s laws. The SA Schools Act states that all children between seven and 15 years must attend school.

Secondly, the church was alleged to have harboured wanted criminals. In doing so, it placed the lives of dozens of innocent men, women and children at risk.

With tensions flaring, the authorities have to ensure villagers remain calm while following due process in dealing with an institution that has been reviled by the community for years now.