Pretoria - Congregants at the Great Assembly of Yahweh Sabbath Ministry at Elandspoort in Pretoria West are saddened after their church was demolished by alleged land grabbers on Sunday.
The founder and high priest of the church, Wiseman Okaka, said on Sunday that their premises had been destroyed by people who claimed to be community leaders of Elandspoort. He said their motive was to chase away foreigners occupying land in the area.
“The people who destroyed our portable ablution facilities and canvas tents are not even from the area in which we assemble as a church.
“They have clearly stated to us that they were getting rid of us because we are foreigners occupying land that does not belong to us. Therefore, they wanted to keep the land for themselves to build their own houses,” Okaka said.
According to Okaka, before moving to Elandspoort they initially conducted their daily services at his Danville home, but were given notice to stop worshipping there as it was not zoned for that purpose.
“After receiving various complaints from fellow residents that we were making excessive noise in my house during our services, we sent out letters to the City asking for permission to legally occupy vacant land that we had identified in Elandspoort.
“The aim was to purchase it at a later stage when the City had decided to lease it or give it to potential buyers. We were given permission by the municipal council,” Okaka said.
Louis Oliver, a resident in Elandspoort, said they did not have any problem with the church; the church-goers were community-orientated.
“The church is all about community upliftment projects; they feed the needy and offer many community activities and skills development projects like glass making, and they have been in our community for more than three years now. If we had any disputes we would have raised them with the City,” Olivier said.
Furthermore, residents said the demolishing of the church was driven by political leaders who wanted to give the land to local people.
“They are taking advantage because the leaders of the church are foreigners. Upon demolishing their property they also stole some of the church’s equipment such as music instruments, and mobile toilets,” a resident said.
The church’s legal adviser, Thabo Molopyane, said: “Congregants together with their leader offered to purchase the land from the City of Tshwane. However, we cannot share any further information regarding this matter as it is still sub judice.”
The City has yet to comment on the matter.