Police investigate assault on Centurion pastor

Police are investigating a case of assault and housebreaking concerning a Centurion-based pastor and his wife who were left shaken after an alleged assault took place this morning.

There had been a series of incidents such as theft and verbal assaults, allegedly by a squatter, on Pastor Noël Brinton and his wife Pastor Janine Brinton from the Pentecostal Holiness Church Mount Olive in Valhalla.

Janine is currently receiving medical care following the assault.

The squatters were initially being aided by the church, however, a case of assault and housebreaking has been opened against them, at the Wierdabrug Police Station.

This morning the pastor realised that the squatter had allegedly broken into the church grounds, and he confronted him.

The pastor was assaulted, allegedly by the squatter, and the incident was caught on a video that Pretoria Rekord has seen.

“I met [him] a while back, and we have been helping him for some time,” Noël told the newspaper yesterday – before the attack.

“Unfortunately, we have learnt that no good deed goes unpunished,” he said.

A helping hand

The church has known the alleged perpetrator since 2021, with various members of the congregation attempting to assist him over time.

On April 10, the pastor discovered the suspect on the property using the church steeple for shelter. “He has been part of the congregation for quite a while, he came to services often. What I have been trying to do with him is to get him into work, to earn a living.”

Noël said that he used a spare room at a decommissioned nursery school on the church grounds for shelter that was hoped to give him time to get back on his feet.

However, after several violations of church rules, verbal assaults and alleged theft of church belongings, the pastors told him that he would no longer be allowed to stay on the church grounds.

In June, the suspect’s mother and her fiancé moved into the unit, despite the pastors’ wishes.

The pastor had attempted to ask the family to leave the premises while allowing them time to make alternative arrangements, but they showed no signs of moving.

“At the end of June, I told them that they had overstayed their welcome. That Thursday, I helped them move their things as they had said that they organised transport and alternative arrangements in Laudium. But I got the middle finger at that stage,” said the pastor.

Squatting outside the church

The family then began squatting on the sidewalk outside the church, where they had been for almost two weeks.

“You want to give people the benefit of the doubt. I think we were a bit naïve. This has been a very hard pill to swallow. We have done a lot for [him],” said Janine.

Pretoria Rekord yesterday spoke to the squatters, but they cannot be named pending a police case.

They said that residents in the area had verbally abused them since they had moved onto the side of the road.

They promised to vacate the site by tomorrow, and wished to thank various community members who had been supplying them with food.

“We are not here by choice,” said the mother.

Security stakeholders called

Ward 66 councillor Ina Strijdom said that she had been assisting with the matter for some time.

She added that the squatters were supposed to leave the site on Monday. After they remained, Strijdom said that she yesterday morning accompanied the TMPD to serve a notice to the squatters to vacate the site.

Tshwane SAPS spokesperson Johan van Dyk confirmed that a case of assault and housebreaking was opened at Wierdabrug SAPS this morning.

Van Dyk said that police were looking for the suspect in the area and that an arrest would soon follow.

“He is known in the area, and members are currently looking for him.”