Cops watch pilgrimage as church factions face off

A LARGE number of police officers were on high alert yesterday as thousands of members of the Ekuphakameni faction of the Nazareth Baptist (Shembe) Church ascended to Nhlangakazi Mountain at Inanda, outside Durban, which the church holds sacred.

The police had to intervene following fears that the congregants would be attacked by rival factions as they climbed up the holy mountain.

Shembe church followers ascend the mountain in an annual pilgrimage to conduct a 15-day prayer.

The Ekuphakameni group, under the leadership of Inkosi Vukile Shembe, is at loggerheads with the Ebuhleni faction over the rights to the Shembe and Nazareth Baptist Church names and to the church’s intellectual property.

The factions had been ascending the mountain at different times in recent years, but the Ebuhleni group, which is thought to be the biggest in the church, is expected not to participate in the pilgrimage this year due to a dispute over its leadership.

It is alleged that the traditional leader of an area near

‘How can I attack people who are going to praise the same God?’

Inanda, a member of the Ebuhleni faction, had threatened to block the Ekuphakameni group from walking past his homestead to the mountain. The Ekuphakameni group requested police protection.

Colonel Jay Naicker said the Public Order Policing Unit had been posted near the tradi- tional leader’s homestead.

Ekuphakameni spokesman Edward Ximba said the police presence made the congregants feel safe.

“I saw a large number of officers. There were also lots of bodyguards and private security officers to protect our leader (Vukile Shembe),” said Ximba.

The traditional leader denied threatening the Ekuphakameni group.

“How can I attack people who are going to praise the same God that I’m praising? They walked past my homestead and nothing happened to them. Even if there was no police presence, nothing would have happened to them,” he said.

Ebuhleni faction spokesman Nkululeko Buthelezi confirmed that his group would not ascend the mountain until the leadership dispute was resolved.