PASTOR SPEAKS AFTER CONGREGANTS FOUND

PIGG’S PEAK – “There is nothing to worry about. We are all safe.”

This was the response Pastor Jeremiah Kunene gave when called yesterday. Kunene is the pastor of EL Tabernacle Holy Ghost Ministries Church situated at a place known as KaZinyane under Mhlangatane Inkhundla. Kunene is also the Head teacher of Ntsinini High School. The church members, including children and the pastor, had unceremoniously left for prayer on the mountains. However, parents of the children attending the church expressed concern that they were not informed about this. They rushed to Buhleni Police Post to report that their children were missing. There were many theories on why the pastor had left with his congregants, with some of his church members claiming that the clergyman had travelled with the congregants to a ‘peaceful land’, to flee from a civil war that was brewing in the country.

Travel

Some claimed the pastor informed them that he would travel to Madagascar for peace’s sake. This raised suspicions among some of the congregants on the reasons behind the trip by the pastor and his followers, with many stating that it would be impossible for him to enter another country without proper documentation. Since last Thursday, residents, as well as police officers, had been searching for the church members. It turned out that the members were camping on a mountain around a place known as Mafucula near Shewula, in the Lubombo Region. Though the location of the church members was discovered on Friday, police officers and some of the residents only managed to get to the mountain where they were camping on Saturday. Despite efforts to get some of the church members to descend the mountain and return home, particularly the elderly and children, most of them refused to go with the police officers. Instead, the church members had said they would return on Sunday.

Out of the 52 who are said to have been on the mountain, only 13 returned to their homes on Sunday. This was confirmed by some of the residents who had also gone to the police earlier in the week to report that their children were missing. When reached for comment yesterday, Pastor Kunene said all the people who had gone to pray with him were fine. He confirmed that not everyone returned on Sunday. Kunene also said he was surprised that parents were complaining this time around about their children going to pray with him, yet it was not the first time church members had gone with the minors.  He said all the people who had gone had returned and were in good health. Kunene also claimed that all the people were expected to return on Sunday but residents prevented this. He said when he dropped off the first group of members, some residents blocked the vehicle. He said for this reason, the vehicle was not able to return to fetch the members who had remained behind on the mountain. He said some returned yesterday.

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