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JOHANNESBURG – Police Minister, General Bheki Cele, together with the National Police Commissioner, General Khehla Sitole on Sunday, met with some of the leaders of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church to map a way forward on how the police and the church can work together to ensure the saftey and security of congregants and property of the church.
The church was was attacked during early hours of Saturday morning in Zuurbekom in the West Rand.
The Minister and SAPS delegation were briefed on the leadership battle currently playing out in the church over recent years as well as their request for the intervention of law enforcement.
The meeting has established a better communication line between the church and the South African Police Service and resolved to maintain this continuously.
Minister Cele assured “Comforter” Leonard Modise, the son of the late Glayton Modise, that there will be an improved working relationship between the South African Police Service and the church.
“We wish to find a way forward on this matter with all parties involved. The South African Police Service can not be seen to be taking sides, will not listen to just one side, but all sides and enforce the law. The law will have to be on the side of the SAPS in order for us to do our work and prevent further bloodshed,” the minister said.
Modise and his entourage thanked Minister Cele and the South African Police Service for the swift response to distress calls when the church came under attack in the early hours of Saturday morning.