The two-day hearing sessions involving Prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) ended on Tuesday. The commission is to release its findings and recommendations on the furore that left three women dead and nine others injured in Pretoria last December.
The hearings were held under the direction of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities.
Prophet Bushiri, SA National Civic Organisation, and officials from the cities of Tshwane and Johannesburg were brought to the fore by the Independent Commission. They were to testify over the legality of ECG Church and the tragedy that happened at the church in December.
In case you have not been following the story…
On the 2018 December, Patricia Pringane, Matshila Sarah Mohlala, and Lehlogahlo Maria Segodi were killed during a stampede. Congregants who had huddled for a church service at Prophet Bushiri’s mega-church pushed each other in a scramble to find shelter during a violent rainstorm. Nine others were left with casualties.
ECG Church’s legal representative Terence Baloyi and police’s preliminary report established that the congregants had panicked during the thunderstorm, leading to the fatalities.
The Police’s Reaction
Well, the South African Police Service (SAPS) revisited the ECG Church’s narrative of what transpired at the church the evening of the tragedy and… they were not so contented with it.
They, therefore, opened a case of defeating the ends of justice and interfering with police work. The Church’s officials are alleged to have removed the bodies of deceased to a private mortuary in Pretoria West without notifying the responsible authorities of the sad incident.
“The charge is added based on the fact that police have established that the deceased where (classified) dead at the church premises and the incident was not reported to the police,”
Pretoria West SAPS Police spokesperson Captain Augustinah Selepe told the press.
Police continued to slam the church for not reporting the incident, with the police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubela, saying;
“Remember, when an incident like this [deaths] police are supposed to be the first to take over and make sure that investigations are conducted at the scene and have the bodies transferred to the government mortuary for post-mortem.
But because there was tampering of the scene, a case had to be opened and we are investigating that. The investigation is at a sensitive stage and we believe that we will make sure we bring the responsible people to book.”
Cpt Makhubela stressed “only authorized people,” were allowed to remove bodies, “not paramedics or a person from a private mortuary,”.
And the SANCO Got Involved…
Meanwhile, the state was trying to make a case, the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) launched radical protests against the church dubbed #BushiriMustGo demonstrations.
Sanco and community members protested outside the church premises at Tshwane Events Centre. The Malawian preacher was called to pack up from “our” Pretoria, and for people to stop praying there. They wanted the popular church to be expelled from the Pretoria venue.
Streets were blocked to traffic, with protesters allowing only minibus taxis to pass via a passage of burning tyres. Several ECG members and vendors camping outside the venue fled as protesters descended on the area. Some ECG members quickly packed their bags and fled.
State security intervened to cool down the civic outrages.
Sanco’s regional secretary Portia Mokoena has since confirmed the arrest of several of its members after allegedly burning tyres.
CRL Rights Commission Called for Hearing
The incessant mudslinging of the church by the civil organization subsequently led the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights (CRL Rights Commission) to intervene. Culminating to the call for a hearing aimed at trying to mediate between the two parties.
The CRL said the call was called following several claims, accusations, marches, demonstrations, and calls by Sanco for the church to be shut down.
“In an effort to help resolve this matter, the CRL Rights Commission called a mediation meeting on January 10 2019 between the Enlightened Christian Gathering Church and the South African National Civic Association,” the CRL said.
The commission summoned representatives from ECG church, SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) and officials from the cities of Tshwane and Johannesburg to testify over the legality of ECG Church and the tragedy that happened at the church on December.
During those deliberations, it was decided that all hostility towards the church would cease. The commission said it would pursue negotiations with the church for possible support for the bereaved families and reiterated its call for the “full enforcement of the bylaws in the country”.
Prophet Bushiri Took The Stand
On Monday Prophet Shepherd Bushiri appeared before the Commission of Inquiry to share his side of the story. He defended his church against accusations that it failed to report the deaths of three women. More so, denied that his church was not responsible for moving the bodies of the dead from the church premises.
“The church only came to know through the media that there was a case of bodies being moved from the church without the police and taken to the private mortuary. We further learnt that the South African Police Service (Saps) had, based on that, opened a case of defeating the ends of justice against the church.
It must be underlined here that the church left the management of the accident in the hands of the paramedics on the scene. From their report, there were only injuries at the scene of the incident — not deaths. The three died at the clinic as they were receiving treatment.
The church took all the professional instruction from the paramedics. We were assured that everything was handled professionally and had done all the necessary processes,”
he said.
The prophet said police were supposed to be at the event on the day but could not be found.
“We have been complying but from their side [police] I don’t think they have been complying,” he said.
He estimated that on the day of the stampede, there were 4,000 congregants. He defended the legality of his church, saying it is registered and governed by relevant authorities.
The City Of Tshwane Testifies
On the last day of the hearing, the commission put Mayor Solly Msimanga to testify as the City of Tshwane certificate of compliance issued for a crossover event at ECG church took center stage.
The certificate was lawfully issued by the City of Tshwane’s events management Joint Operations Committee (JOC) with a stamp that was dated December 31 – which was the date the event would have taken place.
Mayor Msimanga denied the possibility of that because, according to him, there were processes that had to be followed before the certificate could be issued.
“You can’t apply for an event on the day of the event because there is a whole lot of departments that need to come and give certification. You cannot have an event applied for today and approved for today because there are a lot of role players that need to come in, and there are a lot of compliances that need to be adhered to,” Msimanga said.
The commission demanded answers, based on the certificate they were in possession of, to which Msimanga said he was merely responding in terms of what was allowed, by law.
“I am not in any way saying somebody did not sign or somebody signed. I am saying it cannot happen because when you deal with the JOC, you need to give people time to appear in order to appear into a meeting. You need to then agree if there some inspections that need to be conducted before compliance.”
He maintained that it was impossible for someone to present an event on a day and have it approved on the very same day.
“I am more than happy to engage with the chief of the Metro Police to find out who the signature belongs to [and] what processes had been followed on that day, and we can then provide an answer to it.”
The commission said it also struggled to understand how it occurred that a certificate of compliance dated December 31, was issued when the City knew what had happened at the church on December 28.
The hearing was adjourned when Msimanga asked to contact his office to get the appropriate officials to provide clarity.
“If we are able to get to the official that signed this, we are able to then look into what actually transpired that led to this and the person should then be able to respond. I am responding in terms of processes that legally should be followed when dealing with events in the city,”
Msimanga reiterated.
The Commission Reserves Findings
The commission announced that it will release its findings and recommendations on Thursday.
Meanwhile, ECG Church Resumes Services
While the public awaits the Commission’s recommendations, Prophet Bushiri says ECG church services will resume this weekend at the Tshwane Events Centre in Pretoria after a month-long- suspension.
Prophet Bushiri revealed that his church has now received a compliance certificate and are ready to resume its services, a claim Mayor Msimanga had denied earlier.
“Allow me to inform you that our application has been granted to proceed with our normal day-to-day services,”
the church’s legal counsel Terrence Baloyi told Eye Witness News.
The church was expected to open its doors last Sunday but postponed what it had described would be a Grand Opening following the closure.
Hallelujah Magazine is committed to publishing reliable, trusted, quality and independent Christian journalism. Our journalism is free from commercial bias and is not influenced by wealthy people, politicians, clerics or shareholders. We value our readers’ feedback, suggestions, and opinions. Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.
