Court delivers judgement in Shembe leadership battle
The Durban High Court has ruled that Vela Shembe will lead the Shembe Church.
This comes after a five year battle over who will lead the church after the previous leader, Vimbeni Shembe's death.
Vimbeni Shembe's son, Mduduzi Shembe, and his uncle Vela Shembe battled for control of the multi-million rand church.
This battle has seen supporters of the two factions clash violently since the dispute started in 2011.
The court has since granted Mduduzi leave to appeal the ruling.
People took to social media to comment on the verdict:
A high court has declared Vela Shembe as the legitimate leader of the Shembe Church. They will kill each other tonight.
— Agent Provocateur (@De_Imperial) October 18, 2016
So Vela Shembe is the new head of his father's church? I wonder if this is the end of this matter.
— Thami Masemola (@ThamiMasemola) October 18, 2016
Vela has won the the case. He is the rightful successor of Vimbeni and the leader of the Shembe Churchhttps://t.co/KyRGK0C7tk
— Nomfundo Ngcobo (@NomfundoNgcobo) October 18, 2016
So the court has ruled in favour of Vela Shembe. One hopes the other factions submit to this & amaNazaretha unite.
— Baba wakhe (@Mantshinga) October 18, 2016