Notorious ‘prophet’ turns up in Limpopo
Feeds congregants cockroaches
THE controversial prophet notorious for feeding congregants snakes, human hair and pieces of cloth is back to his old tricks.
Not only has Prophet Penuel Mnguni resurfaced in another province, but he is now feeding followers cockroaches and a “poisonous” flower in a “demonstration of God’s power”. He also stuck his fingers into bottles of water brought to him by congregants.
On November 3, Mnguni hosted an all-night prayer at his church, The End Times Disciples Ministries. Videos and pictures from the services were later posted on Facebook.
One post reads: “You shall drink poison and it will not harm you.”
“As the man of God demonstrated this mystery of the cockroach turning into cheese and spice, Apostle Tompane Eans from Limpopo came forward, saying he also wanted to eat.
“The man of God then took a poisonous flower and prayed upon it and gave it to Apostle Tompane to eat. As Apostle Tompane ate, he said it tasted like no ordinary food; he enjoyed it to the extent that he asked to eat the whole flower alone, and finished it…” the post read in part.
However, Tompane could not later be traced.
Mnguni was kicked out of Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, after he was exposed for feeding people snakes, hair and cloths, among other things.
He has now resurfaced in Kameelrivier, near Siyabuswa in Mpumalanga, and made headlines when he allegedly drove a car over two congregants, with neither sustaining injuries.
He also “rode” people like horses and claimed to have turned a gay man straight.
In a post from October, the church said while ministering, Mnguni fed two congregants, who were brothers, a cock- roach. One of them, Charles Tema, is alleged to have said the cockroach tasted like cheese, while his brother allegedly said it tasted like spices.
Independent News got hold of Tema, who yesterday admitted to having eaten a cockroach.
“I ate a cockroach during a demonstration of God’s power from above, and it tasted like Melrose cheese mixed with cucumber. I eat anything that I see as food. I eat anything that I want to eat, whether grass or flowers (at home)... It has never affected me and it will never affect me. When you eat something by faith, it will never affect you.”
He referred reporters to Romans 14, saying a faithful person could do anything.
Tema said he had been a member of the church for more than a year, and that the “spirit of God led him to the church.”
“The spirit of God works in that place,” Tema said.
The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) tabled its report in Parliament this year, in which it recommended that churches be regulated.
Habitual
Chairwoman Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva yesterday said it was important to have a peer review mechanism to deal with pastors like Mnguni.
“He (Mnguni) is a habitual offender… The right thing would be to tell him that he was not fit to be a pastor,” Mkhwanazi-Xaluva said.
She said the review mechanism was about “protecting poor and desperate people who are being abused”.
“We cannot spend money to interdict people and then they move on to do something else, and we must interdict them again.”
An official from the church promised to get Mnguni to respond, but the church or Mnguni had not done so by print deadline.