Neighbours say ‘bully’ church keeps them prisoners
The number of congregants at Pastor Glyn Weldschidt’s Central Community Fellowship church have dwindled from 350 to just over 100 since a new “bully” church moved onto the block a few years ago.
Every Sunday, the sound of music and preaching booms from powerful speakers on the pavement outside Revelation Church of God in Johannesburg’s inner city.
The noise drowns out Weldschidt’s sermons and is unbearable for the children attending Sunday school.
Hundreds of cars are parked illegally, holding Weldschidt’s congregants — and residents in the area — prisoner, he said.
Weldschidt’s church has complained to city officials over the past years, asking them to intervene.
Its complaints to the church’s leader, Samuel Mbiza, known as Prophet Radebe, had fallen on deaf ears, Weldschidt said.
He believed that if the authorities had acted on these complaints, last Sunday’s severe attack on a Johannesburg metro police department officer, Siphiwe Sebati, would not have happened.
A video of Sebati being beaten by congregants from the Revelation Church of God was posted on social media this week.
Sebati and his colleagues were towing an illegally parked car that was causing congestion in Claim Street when the group attacked him and took his gun.
He was discharged from hospital this week. Two people have been arrested. Radebe hit headlines earlier this year when he and his business partner Mark Kitchenbrand bought a Belgian racing pigeon for R5.7-million.
Revelation Church of God this week denied claims of litter and congestion and said it had attracted businesses to the area. But Weldschidt told the Sunday Times that residents were frustrated and angry.
“We have written numerous letters to the city complaining about the many bylaws flouted by the church. One of those letters was read aloud through the speakers by Radebe. How he managed to get hold of a letter I had addressed to the city still puzzles me.”
He said the church had been a nuisance to the community since it took over the old Jewish synagogue building in Wolmarans Street four years ago.
Congregants spill out from the overcrowded building, forming queues along Claim, Wolmarans, Smit and Leyds streets every Sunday, making it difficult for residents to get in an out.
Weldschidt said his church, which fell under the Baptist Church of Johannesburg, had been in the area for more than five decades but felt bullied by Radebe and his congregants, who even parked on his church premises.
“The major noise starts when we are deep into our service at about 8.30am. We can’t really hear ourselves. Teachers at the Sunday school have to close the windows and doors. The noise is unbearable for the children.”
Nosiphiwo Khumalo, the manager at the nearby Johannesburger Hotel, said he had lost a lot of business since Revelation Church of God opened. He had stopped the church’s members from using the hotel’s parking bays because they were not willing to pay for parking.
“We have opted not to use more than 100 rooms on Wolmarans Street as our clients would complain about the noise coming from a loudspeaker placed by the church near our building. There were times when the members would ask to use our toilets and water, but we have stopped allowing this,” said Khumalo.
A resident tasked with co-ordinating a petition by the community said people who lived in nearby buildings had no freedom of movement on Sundays.
“People complain of cars blocking their entrance, the noise, which starts as early as 5.45am, and the dirty looks they receive from congregation members whenever they ask them to move,” said the woman who asked not to be named for fear of being attacked by church members.
“We have nothing against the church but want [Radebe] to consider the other people who are not church members.”
The church’s spokeswoman, Thembi Tulwana, denied the claims, saying the church promoted “orderliness both inside and outside the main church building at all times”.
She said: “Businesses are most welcoming and appreciative of the business brought by those worshipping at the church.”
The church had received only one complaint about cars blocking an entrance, and a “mutual agreement” had been reached that their marshals would ensure entrances were not obstructed.
“Is this assuming that the noise you refer to is above the accepted decibel levels, and if so by how much?” Tulwana asked.
JMPD spokesman Wayne Minnaar denied reports that officers had not acted against church members for flouting bylaws.
“What we have noticed with this particular church is that it is growing and the number of cars coming to the church have also increased. The JMPD has followed up on all complaints.”