Future of ‘prophet’ Bushiri’s church to be decided
A DECISION on the future of prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s controversial Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church in Pretoria will be announced by the City of Tshwane today.
This as services were placed on hold after a weekend of protests which followed a fateful stampede when congregants had gathered for a service on December 28.
Three women died and nine others were injured as they ran for shelter during a heavy rainstorm during the last service held there.
The incident threw the church into further scrutiny after the bodies were removed from the scene before the police and forensics services were notified. The bodies of Patricia Pringane, Matshila Sarah Mohlala and Lehlogahlo Maria Segodi were taken to a private mortuary without their families’ consent.
Police were only made aware of the tragedy the following day.
Yesterday, gates at the Tshwane Events Centre section where the church is located, remained closed after the weekend protests by civil organisations and community members, which led to the arrest of three men.
According to Bushiri’s lawyer, Terence Baloyi, they were: “Just taking a break, and services would resume on the 20th.”
But popular belief was that it had been forced to close down, even temporarily, after calls that Bushiri, or Major 1 as he is called by his followers, be deported back to Malawi.
MMC for health Sakkie Du Plooy began his investigations into the contract which allows the church to operate at its current premises and said:
“There is no contract between the city and church of Bushiri. That area was given to an organisation called Tshwabac for agricultural show purposes and they entered into an agreement with Bushiri.
“So as the city we cannot take responsibility for what happened, but our officials did go there for the regular inspection. They assured me that the church is compliant with the city’s requirements.” | Thobile Mathonsi/ African News Agency/ANA