Church leaders at war, accused of adultery

Elders at the Church of Christ Assemblies are at loggerheads with some of their members who accuse them of misconduct.

In a holy feud that has landed at the North West High Court, the leadership of the church was accused of promoting adultery, prostitution, witchcraft and excessive alcohol consumption.

The accusations were allegedly made by Meshack Benjamin Montshing, Thabang Sylvester Chauke, Neo Jacobs Motepe, Lucky Senokwane and Bethuel Maleofane.

In court papers the church accuses the five of having "propagated and advocated an apostate message of hate, falsehood, disunity and violence within the membership".

They also accused the five of:

• calling for the death of certain senior leaders and their families;
• falsely accusing certain male members of the church leadership of having adulterous affairs with female members;
•  falsely accusing female members of witchcraft;
•  falsely accusing female members of being prostitutes;
• organising alternative church events in opposition to those arranged by church leadership;
• hijacking church services and events; and
•  wrongfully appropriating monies from members.

The church branch in Ledig, near Rustenburg, called on its members to refrain from disrupting the annual conference to be held this weekend.

The five men told Sowetan that after confronting the church elders about the alleged misconduct last September , they were called to a disciplinary hearing and subsequently banned from entering church premises.

The group added that they also complained about the excessive drinking of church leaders.

Montshing said the constitution of the church stated that if a member is accused of misconduct, he or she must stop wearing the church's uniform for six months.

"We just want to be treated equally. These leaders are breaking other people's marriages and are also drunkards," he alleged.

Chauke said: "We do spiritual rituals at our church. We have proof that some church elders bathe people with eggs and make them to jump over fires. That is witchcraft and not what our church stands for."

The church's general secretary Jacob Mopelong said they took the five men to court because they did not want them to disrupt the church conference. He said the church would address the groups accusations after the conference. - tshehleb@sowetan.co.za