Durban – Millions of followers of the Nazareth Baptist Church will have to wait until Tuesday to hear who their legally appointed leader is.
Two factions within the church, popularly known as Shembe, have been embroiled in a five-year legal battle since the death of it’s leader Vimbeni Shembe in 2011.
Vimbeni’s son, Mduduzi Shembe, and his cousin, Vela Shembe, both laid claim to being head of the church and sole guardian of its substantial trust.
Judge Achmat Jappie started delivering his judgment in the civil trial on Monday at the Durban High Court.
Jappie gave an overview of how the church was founded in 1911 by Isaiah Shembe.
Isaiah died in 1935 and since then the church has seen succession battles.
“This is not the first time there has been such a crisis in the history of the church,” said Jappie.
Jappie said that Zwelabantu Buthelezi, Vimbeni Shembi’s lawyer, told the court that Vimbeni came to his office in January 2000 and told him he did not want any more succession battles when he died. Vimbeni had himself been caught up in a battle for succession in 1995.
Vimbeni told Buthelezi that his cousin, Vela Shembe, was to be “titular head of the church and sole trustee of the Trust”.
According to Buthelezi’s testimony, Vimbeni specified that Vela’s leadership role was be announced at his funeral “to avoid any disputes within the church”.
Buthelezi testified that in March 2011 he received a letter from Vimbeni, written in Zulu, telling Buthelezi that he was not well and reminding him that at his funeral that Vela was to be introduced to congregants as “leader of the Nazareth Church”.
After Vimbeni’s death, Buthelezi approached church leadership asking to speak to the family of his client and Amakhosi to tell them he had to make an announcement at the funeral.
He was told it was “unnecessary” and “not keeping with protocol” to speak to the family during mourning.
Armed with the deed of nomination letter from Vimbeni and a police escort because things had “become tense” as the succession battle heated up, Buthelezi attended the funeral, ready to address the crowd.
Before he could do so, church leader Mqoqi Ngcobo announced that Vimbeni’s eldest son, Mduduzi, would take his father’s place. Minutes later, Buthelezi told the crowd that it was Vimbeni’s wish that Vela succeed him.
Jappie said the case saw three handwriting experts offer their opinions on the authenticity of the letter Buthelezi said he received from Vimbeni.
There was a strong police presence inside and outside the court as tensions between both factions remain high. About 150 supporters of Mduduzi gathered outside the court.
Speaking to ANA on condition of anonymity, a follower of Mduduzi said that if they lost the court bid, nothing would change.
“We already have our leader. This is now just about the money,” he said.
The church has about five million followers, with assets worth up to half a billion rand. Assets have been frozen pending the outcome of the trial.
Jappie continues with his judgment on Tuesday morning.
African News Agency