Concerned residents of Block K in Soshanguve, Tshwane wants church members of fugitive, self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri to vacate their area with immediate effect.
This as members of the church have now moved from Tshwane Events Centre where they have been conducting their services and came to settle in Soshanguve Block K without following protocol and also because the church’s activities are suspicious as its leader Bushiri escaped from the country to avoid charges of fraud, theft and money-laundering amounting to R102 million.
The Bushiri church, which is formally known as the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) has for the past two months been renting space for its activities at Phetla Shopping Complex in Soshanguve Block K, and this scenario doesn’t sit well with some residents of the area.
Aggrieved members of the community shut down the said premises used by the church for its services at the shopping complex on Sunday and called for a meeting to discuss the immediate vacation of the church from their area.
The community meeting was held on Sunday at 8am at the selfsame Phetla shopping complex and this led to disruption of the usual Sunday services of the church.
The meeting was attended by community members with Hlohi Malema as representative of the community of Soshanguve Block K, the SAPS and a resident pastor of the ECG.
Local Ward Councillor Sisi Sithole sent an apology for her absence.
The following factors were stated by the community as reasons for demanding the vacation of the church from Soshanguve Block K:
1. Bushiri the fugitive is wanted by police for running a Ponzi scheme and there are concerns that the church would continue with the selfsame criminal activities to coerce the surrounding members of the community, especially the elderly, to invest in the scam which Bushiri used to defraud his church members and the community in general millions of rand.
2. Illegal foreign nationals are members of the ECG.
3. Ward Councillor Sisi Sithole had not informed the community about the opening of the ECG church in their community as per City of Tshwane Municipality regulations.
4.Phetla shopping complex is a business site as per Municipal Zoning Map and it is therefore inappropriate for the ECG to operate from such premises.
5.The ECG is giving food to local children without the consent of their parents, and this is a worrying factor as the country has recently experienced numerous incidents of malicious poisoning of children.
6.The ECG church is still associated with fugitive Shepherd Bushiri and as law-abiding citizens the church’s activities and its pastors can’t be trusted.
7. The church is contravening Municipal by-laws whereby its members park their cars at the entrances of neighbouring households, play loud music from the church, pray at sidewalks of nearby residential properties and their vehicles leave oil stains on the pavements of private nearby households.
In response to the aforesaid allegations levelled at the ECG, its resident pastor distanced himself and the church from fugitive Bushiri’s criminal activities and assured members of the community of Block K that the present ECG church has no members who are foreigners, and he also said the church only gives food to children of the congregants as a matter of policy but local children are the ones who, upon seeing their peers eating inside the church premises, come voluntarily to the church for food.
“And there is no way we can turn away children once they have expressed a desire for food,” said the pastor as he promised the community that the ECG won’t engage in any criminal activities and that it would abide by the Municipal by-laws.
It was then resolved that the activities of the church shall be strictly monitored by community representatives and that the church must also strive at all times to inform the community about any extraordinary activities at the church.
The residents then gave the ECG church permission to operate in Soshanguve Block K at Phetla Shopping Complex on a temporary basis until it finds an alternative venue for its activities.