'School children' burned Mboro's church – eyewitness
Police have confirmed they have received reports that a group of pupils were behind the blaze that gutted the Incredible Happenings Church in Katlehong.
This comes after five suspects were arrested for the incident at the Matsediso Primary School, where Pastor Paseka ‘Mboro’ Motsoeneng and his bodyguards threatened staff with weapons.
In a video that has since gone viral, Motsoeneng is seen brandishing a machete, which he waves in the faces of those trying to stop him from taking two young children from the school on Monday.
Another man, who is thought to be Motsoeneng’s bodyguard, is seen carrying what police say is a replica of a rifle.
WATCH:
These thugs must be found pic.twitter.com/Z2mL7OZnXH
— Matome Chiloane (@matomekopano) August 5, 2024
Carol Mbatha, a congregant and eyewitness, is one of at least two people who say they saw a group of school children stepping out of a bus and ransacking the marquee before setting it alight.
“We saw school children who came in two buses. They were mobilised to come here and started everything with some climbing on some equipment. They are thieves. They stole some things and took them, and they are young children.
“They don’t know what they are doing; they were picked up from the streets and were told to destroy.”
The police’s Major General Anna Sithole confirmed eyewitness reports.
“The information that I have received from the station commander is that it’s the school kids from the school near the police station. They were the ones who were involved in the burning of the church.”
UP IN FLAMES
Loud explosions could be heard as speakers, plastic chairs, and some of the poles that propped up the tent burned to the ground.
Only the generator, mobile toilets and stage steel frame remained.
One of Motsoeneng’s churchgoers, Lindiwe Lingele, said they were unmoved by the arson attack, and instead, they chose to see it as an opportunity for a new start.
They allege that their leader has been persecuted by some in the community.
“It’s a new birth of Incredible Happenings. [They] think that they are spiting Bab’Mboro or us, but they are not. They are taking us to higher places…
“Parents should stop using their kids to fight their battles. The very same kids that are burning here get their uniforms from him.”
Scrap collectors were quick to pull steel poles and any salvageable piece of metal from the smouldering remnants of the church. This was while at least five police vehicles and ‘amapanyazas’ (Gauteng crime wardens) were parked there.
[EARLIER] Scrap collectors pull steel poles from what’s left of Paseka Motsoeneng’s Incredible Happenings Church in Katlehong.Major Gen Anna Sithole says she’s not aware that police did little to stop the looting at the crime scene but that will form part of investigations #Mboro pic.twitter.com/uADqf9vj2b
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) August 6, 2024
Sithole said she’s not aware that police did little to stop the looting at the crime scene but that will form part of investigations.
“I am not aware of the looting because public order police were here immediately after we were informed that the church was burned, and they were monitoring the situation.
“I should think that will be part of the investigation, and arrests will also be made for those who were looting through investigations.”
No one has been arrested for causing the blaze, and no injuries were reported.
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