Sipho Masombuka

Sipho Masombuka

A seven-year quarrel between the leadership of the Uniting Reformed Church in South Africa and a group of concerned congregants in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, has climaxed into an irreparable split.

Led by prominent businessman Elias Ledwaba, the splinter group decided to conduct their own services elsewhere following the failure by the church's Tshwane presbytery - administrative body - to find an amicable solution to the long-standing feud.

According to the spokesman of the group, Billy Masoka, the rift is a result of the group's questioning of the church's financial statements and the introduction of methods of worship that "are not in line with the church's tradition".