Durban - Worshippers of the Nazareth Baptist Church are mourning the loss of leader iNkosi Vela Shembe, who died after a sudden illness.
Vela, the leader of the Thembezinhle faction of the church, died on Thursday night at his uMthwalume South Coast home.
Nkululeko Mthethwa, a spokesperson for the Thembezinhle faction, said Vela had died suddenly and had not said he was ill. This is despite various media reports suggesting that he had been sick for a prolonged period.
Mthethwa said it was not unusual for Shembe church leaders to die at home. He reiterated that Vela hadn’t been ill. “On Thursday night, at about 11pm, he was not sick at all. We are shocked by his sudden death,” said Mthethwa.
However, in December last year, Vela spent some time in hospital, but he had dismissed this as a regular medical check-up.
The church was yet to announce when he would be buried.
The church, which has an estimated 2 million followers, was the subject of a court dispute over the leadership between Vela and his nephew,
Mduduzi Shembe, who leads the eBuhleni faction of the church.
The dispute arose when iNkosi Vimbeni Shembe died and, at his funeral, a close friend announced his son, Mduduzi, as heir successor, while his lawyer announced Vimbeni’s brother, Vela.
The matter has been in court for the past seven years and is subject to an appeal at the Pietermaritzburg High Court after the Durban High Court ruled that Vela was the rightful heir last year.