WeeklySA_AdminReign of terror: Pastor gunned down during prayers – a day after three Egyptian Monks stabbed to death inside monastery…
By Monk Nkomo
South Africa’s places of worship were being targeted for brazen attacks by unscrupulous gangs who raid church congregants during prayer services with impunity.
In the latest deadly attack, three Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church monks were stabbed to death inside the Saint Mark the Apostle and Saint Samuel the Confessor Monastery in Cullinan, north east of Pretoria, on Tuesday. The fourth victim, who survived the brutal attack, was battered with an iron rod on the hand before he managed to flee and hide in one of the rooms, according to the police. The motive for the attack is not known but two suspects including a 35-year-old man, have since been arrested and have already appeared in the local magistrate’s court.
The Egyptian government has lamented the tragic deaths and have demanded answers from the South African security authorities. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said it would be following the investigations by the police. A day after the senseless attack on the three monks, a pastor of the St Patrick’s Missionary Society (Kiltegan Fathers), in Tzaneen in Limpopo, Father William Banda, was shot dead – at point blank range while preparing to celebrate Holy Mass on Wednesday. A lone gunman described as “a well-dressed African man” murdered the priest in the sacristy of the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Tzaneen Diocese.
According to ACI Africa, Banda, originally from Zambia, was in the church praying when his killer walked in and sat next to him before accompanying him to the sacristy. The priest was conducting morning prayers and parishioners were entering the church in anticipation of the morning Mass. One of the congregants noticed a stranger they had never seen before inside the church.
When Father Banda had completed his morning prayers, he stood up to go and ready himself at the sacristy for the morning Mass. The stranger followed him to the sacristy where he drew a firearm and shot the priest in the neck. He then walked away but as he approached the door, he turned around and walked back and shot him in the head. He then ran out and escaped in a car that was waiting outside. No arrests had been made and police are investigating.
Attacks on South Africa’s places of worship have been on the increase in the past two to three years. Some of the incidents, which include:
- Prophet Dwayne Gordon, from Randfontein, killed during a prayer service at Eagles Christian Centre in Newslands, Johannesburg where members of the congregation were assaulted and robbed at gunpoint in October last year.
- Pastor Vincent Skhakhane of the Holiness Christian Revival Ministries murdered and other church members injured after being attacked by armed robbers during a prayer service in Diepsloot near Midrand two years ago.
- Members of the Enlightened Christian Gathering, which was run by controversial Malawian pastor, Shephered Bushiri, robbed of bank cards, cash and cellphones by armed thugs at their branch in Mpumalanga.
- Worshippers at a church parking lot in Merebank, south of Durban, were forced to lie on the floor by four armed men who robbed them of their personal belongings including a bakkie.
- A 13-year-old girl was whipped with a pistol during a robbery at the Reformed Church in Daspoort, west of Pretoria where four armed men made away with cash, cellphones and jewellery.
- Five armed men locked several children in the toilet and then robbed congregants of the Emmanuel Community Church in Tea Estate in Verulam, Durban, of their valuables during a midweek prayer service.
- Armed robbers attacked congregants at the Johannesburg branch of the Ghanaian Pentecost during a service in October last year. The looting incident was also caught on video.
Both the government and the South African Council of Churches have condemned the brazen attacks on churches which they viewed as places of worship and not places of terror. The SACC feared that the trauma experienced by the congregants could lead to them staying away from prayer services at their respective churches. The government has advised church leaders to tighten up their security because gangsters had now identified churches as soft targets. Police have also called on congregants to report suspicious movements near their churches especially during services.
