WeeklySA_AdminSCOURGE: Southern African Catholic Bishops decry “pandemic” of murder which has claimed two of their pastors in as many months – first in March and now on April 27…
By ACI Africa and Monk Nkomo
Barely two months after four priests were brutally murdered, yet another man of cloth has been found murdered in South Africa, where the crime pandemic has spilled into the places of worship.
The latest victim has been identified as Father Paul Tatu Mothobi (46), a Lesotho national who was a member the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata (CSS/ Stigmatines) and former Media and Communications Officer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC).
His body was found inside his car which was parked along the N1 between Johannesburg and Polokwane on Monday, March 27, 2024. He had sustained a gunshot wound, according to the South Africa-based CSS Provincial Secretary, Father Jeremia Thami Mkhwanazi. No further details were available.
The SACBC, in a statement, condemned the killings and decried the lawlessness in this country and made a direct appeal to both President Cyril Ramaphosa and Police Minister, Bheki Cele, to make the well-being and safety of the people a top priority. ‘’ As a church we are at your disposal for discussion and strategies to stop the murder of innocent people which is now becoming a pandemic in this country.’’
The spate of violence has spread to the places of worship in recent years where churches have been identified as soft crime targets by ruthless gangsters who assault and rob congregants of their possessions including cellphones and money and even murder priests during prayer services. Recent casualties included three Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church monks who were brutally stabbed to death on March 3, 2024 at a monastery in Cullinan, Pretoria, where they were staying. The three were identified as Takia Elsmwaeili Ayoub Attia Mossoud Mouss, Marcos Shawkat Nasry Morid Nanas Mina and Marcos Mofed Tawfek Isaac Youstos.
Two Egyptian priests – Saeed Basouda (37), a monk and Samuel Avamarkos (47), a priest, have since been arrested and have appeared in the Cullinan Magistrate’s Court on three charges of murder.
Another priest, Father William Banda (38), a Zambian national and member of St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, was shot dead at point blank range by an unknown suspect as he prepared to celebrate Holy Mass inside the Tzaneen Cathedral in Limpopo on March 14, 2024.
In their plea to the government, the SACBC, in a statement, said there was a growing impression in South Africa that criminals were freely murdering the citizens with no fear of consequences.
‘’ The murder of innocent people was now becoming a pandemic in this country. A deliberate termination of the life of one person affects not only the person killed but a whole network of relationships of that person.’’
The killing of these priests was a distressing example of the deteriorating state of security and morality in South Africa amid growing concerns about the increasing disregard for the value of life where people were wantonly killed.
“While making this call for the respect of life, we know that some people have taken a position not to respect life and will continue to kill and for this reason, we have a government with a mandate to deal with such people.’’
President of the Catholic Bishops of Botswana, Eswatini and South Africa, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka added : ‘’ On behalf of the Bishops, I appeal to all the people responsible for these murders to refrain from thinking that they can do what they like with people’s lives. Life belongs to God and no one has a right to take it as one pleases.’’
The SACBC emphasised the need for the government to put in place immediate and effective measures to ensure the security of law-abiding citizens who worked hard to support their families and for the Catholic priests who spent their lives serving the people of this country. ’A family person killed, affects the family of that person, the extended family , friends, colleagues and those of the dead person for support. Killing one person brings about pain and misery to many people.’’.
“Fr. Tatu worked for several years as the SACBC media and communications officer with dedication. We are saddened by his tragic death. We extend our condolences to the Stigmatine congregation, to which he belonged and to his family,” Sipuka said. Mothobi was born on December 31, 1978 in Teyateyaneng, a town in Lesotho’s district of Berea. He joined the Stigmatines in 1998, studied philosophy at St. Francis House of Studies in Pretoria from 1999 to 2000 and moved to Botswana for Novitiate.
He later resumed Priestly formation, joining Pretoria-based St. John Vianney Seminary, under the Stigmatines, for theology. He was ordained a priest in 2008. The Stigmatines later commissioned him to Tanzania as a missionary. While in the East African nation, he pursued media and communication studies at Mwanza-based St. Augustine University of Tanzania of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference.
