Pretoria – The leader of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC), headquartered in Zuurbekom, west of Johannesburg, on Sunday appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the courts, and the South African Police Service (SAPS) to help end the violence in the ongoing tussle for control of one of Southern Africa’s biggest churches.
“This is a church of peace, a church of love and a church which heals. The people who attacked this place yesterday [Saturday] were here to hijack God’s land. We are begging you to help us, as law enforcement agencies," said Frederick Leonard Goitsemang Modise, the younger son of the late church leader “Comforter” Glayton Modise who died in 2016.
"If you do not help us out, then who will? This is a very important church in the nation. These wars should come to an end. The people who attacked this place yesterday [Saturday] were criminals who had come to kill and plunder. We are glad that you [media] have come, so that the nation can now hear where the truth lies in this matter. We hope you communicate the frustrations we are having,” he told journalists at the church’s headquarters.
Modise said he prayed that incidents such as the hostage drama on Saturday, which left five people dead, did not happen again at the “holy land”.
At least five people were killed this weekend, and more than 40 others arrested, including security forces personnel, in a church hostage drama at the feud-ravaged International Pentecost Holiness Church in Zuurbekom, west of Johannesburg, in the early hours of Saturday morning. At least 34 firearms were seized. Photo: SAPS
The well known church, which boasts a three-million strong membership in South Africa and neighbouring countries, has been engulfed in a bitter three-way conflict to succeed Glayton Modise who had "inherited" the church from his father and founder "Comforter" Frederick Samuel Modise in 1998. There has been intensive conflict between the three main contenders – Glayton Modise's two sons Frederick Leonard Goitsemang and Tshepiso, and Michael Sandlana, reportedly Modise's son out of wedlock – to take over the reins of the church.
Leonard Modise has in the past told the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria that his late father publicly and lawfully anointed him to be his successor before he died. Leonard Modise leads the IPHC group based at the Silo headquarters church in Zuurbekom. The other two contenders run different church splinter groups elsewhere.
Tshepiso Modise currently leads one of the biggest IPHC branches in Springs, east of Johannesburg, while Sandlana leads the splinter church from the Jerusalem branch in Pretoria.
Chairman of the church's executive council under Leonard Modise, Abiel Wessie, said he had previously told Police Minister Bheki Cele and the leadership of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), commonly known as the Hawks, that there would be further bloodshed in the leadership wrangle if law enforcement agencies did not take a proactive stance.
“The response yesterday [by the law enforcement authorities] was top class, but it a reactive approach. According to me, that is useless. It was a prompt response but it is reactive. We have escalated this to the highest offices because we want a proactive approach to our problems so that we can avert bloodshed and loss of life. I have told the Minister (Cele) that unless something is done we are still going to experience a lot of bloodshed. I thought that statement was enough for them to proactively respond and to try and help,” said Wessie.
So far, about 10 people have been killed at various places in the ongoing leadership tussle. The church premises at Zuurbekom have been closed since the start of the coronavirus (Covid-19) nationwide lockdown in March.
On Saturday, SAPS National Commissioner Lt-Gen Khehla John Sitole said in a statement that four people were found shot and burnt to death in a car, while a fifth victim, a security guard, was also fatally shot in his car while he was apparently attending to the complaint.
Police arrested more than 40 suspects, including six people who had been taken to hospital. Among those arrested were members of the SAPS, SA National Defence Force (SANDF), Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), and the correctional services department. More than 34 firearms, including five rifles, 16 shotguns, and 13 pistols were seized.
In November 2018, a shoot-out between feuding factions of the church left three people wounded outside the church in Zuurbekom. In 2017, the warring factions went to court over claims that more than R110 million was missing from the church coffers.