Church hostage drama: assailants were disguised as police officers
A GROUP of more than 40 assailants who sparked a hostage drama which left five people dead when they forcefully entered the feud-ravaged International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) in Zuurbekom, west of Johannesburg, early on Saturday were disguised as police officers, the church said.
The group of men, allegedly led by a representative of a church faction and “armed to the teeth with pistols and rifles”, forcefully entered the IPHC’s headquarters compound at about 2.30am, the church said in a statement issued by its secretary of council, Mpho Makwana, on Saturday night.
“These were (subsequently) seized by the SAPS and the hitmen were apprehended.”
Makwana said witnesses at the church, including security officers, had stated that the assailants were led by a former member of the vast church and disguised as police officers.
Their convoy was led by a BMW 3 Series car flanked by two Toyota Quantum minibuses.
Upon being denied entry to the premises, they “circled around to another entrance created for trucks and suppliers where they gained access”.
“Because they were led by a former (church) member who knows the premises, they were able to enter forcefully through the south gate entrance.”
There had been similar attacks in the past, Makwana said.
The well-known church,
which boasts a 3-million-strong membership, has been engulfed in a three-way succession battle about who should succeed Glayton Modise who died in 2016 and who had “inherited” the church from his father and founder, “comforter” Frederick in 1998.
There has been bitter conflict between the three main contenders – Glayton Modise’s two sons Frederick Leonard Goitsemang and Tshepiso, and Michael Sandlana, reportedly Modise’s son out of wedlock – in a bid to take over the reins of the church.
Makwana is with the main church, led by Leonard Modise and based at the headquarters church in Zuurbekom.
The other two contenders run different church branches elsewhere.
Leonard Goitsemang Modise, leader of the church at Zuurbekom, said yesterday: “This is a church of peace, a church of love and a church which heals. The people who attacked this place yesterday (Saturday) were here to hijack God’s land. We are begging you to help us, as law-enforcement agencies.”
“If you do not help us out, then who will? This is a very important church. These wars should come to an end. The people who attacked this place yesterday (Saturday) were criminals who had come to kill and plunder,”
African News Agency he told journalists at the church’s headquarters.
The church premises at Zuurbekom had been closed since the start of the Covid-19 nationwide lockdown in March.
Earlier on Saturday, SAPS national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khehla John Sitole said that four people were found shot and burnt to death in a car, while a fifth victim, a security guard, was also fatally shot in his car while he was apparently attending to the complaint.
Police arrested more than 40 suspects, including six people who had been taken to hospital. Among those arrested were members of the SAPS, SANDF, Johannesburg Metro Police Department, and the Correctional Services Department.
The police have said it is not yet clear what role the arrested officers and soldiers played in the incident.
More than 34 firearms, including five rifles, 16 shotguns, and 13 pistols had been seized.
These units had also rescued men, women, and children who were said to be living in the compound and being held hostage.
Sitole praised the Gauteng SAPS management and officers for their prompt response to the incident.
“I am certain that the speedy response by the the joint security forces has averted what could have been a more severe bloodbath.
“I have tasked the provincial management to finalise its preliminary investigations in the quickest possible time and ensure that the 72-hour activation plan is mobilised to bring to book all those responsible for this attack.
“I have embarked on a spiritual crime prevention concept which involves the participation of all religious denominations in the fight against crime. It is rather unfortunate that such an incident takes place during a time when South Africa is being plagued by a deadly virus (Covid-19) and violent crimes,” Sitole said.
In November 2018, a shoot-out between feuding factions of the church left three people wounded outside the church in Zuurbekom. In 2017, the warring factions went to court over claims that more than R110m was missing from church coffers.