Shembe members lay leader to rest
Members of the Nazareth Church perform last rites at the funeral of Inkosi Vela Shembe at Mtwalume in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday.
THE successor of the late Vela Shembe, leader of the Thembezinhle faction who was laid to rest yesterday, will be named next week.
It was revealed yesterday that Shembe had directed his lawyers not to name his successor at his funeral. He died in the early hours of Friday.
His death comes shortly after he won a long, drawnout battle against his nephew Mduduzi Shembe, the leader of the Ebuhleni faction, over the leadership of the church.
Congregants were told to return to the church’s headquarters on December 16, when his successor will be named.
The move could be construed as an attempt to contain any falling out over the public naming of the church’s next leader.
“The lawyers said that Inkosi had directed them not to name his successor at the funeral, all the members of the church must return on December 16,” said the church’s spokesperson, Nkululeko Mthethwa.
One of the senior pastors in the church, Joseph Mbatha, said Shembe did not want his successor to be named at the funeral, because he wanted his family and the church mem- bers to be given a chance to mourn his death.
“He did not like what he saw (before) when the successor was named at the funeral and he saw people celebrating.
“He wanted people to have a chance to mourn.”
Hundreds of mourners arrived to pay their respects to Shembe at his home in Mtwalume on the KwaZuluNatal South Coast.
Among them were prov- incial government leaders, including KZN Premier Willies Mchunu and several MPLs.
IFP leader Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi sent IFP MPL Blessed Gwala to deliver a prepared speech on his behalf.
Every speaker honoured Shembe as a humble, intelligent and kind individual.
Gwala said Buthelezi was shocked by his death.
“I still wanted to meet with Shembe but I could not do so, because this court case was still going on.
“I wanted to meet with him and the leaders of the three other factions to see if we could find some common ground and a way that we could reunite the church,” Buthelezi’s statement said.
Other speakers called for unity within the church.
Another pastor said it was important for the congregants to show love instead of hate.
“We should stop what is happening in this church as there will always be squabbles, we should rather focus on religion,” said the pastor.
Mchunu said the KZN government had to participate and attend the funeral to show consistency and to avoid being seen as siding with one of the various factions.
“We wanted to engage with him on issues of moral regeneration,” added Mchunu.
Church says it will name the new leader later