Prophet Bushiri’s church reopening postponed indefinitely
A new date will be announced soon, but there will be no service at any of the church’s branches in the interim.
Three women were trampled to death when a stampede took place during a thunderstorm. Image: Pretoria North Rekord
Members of Prophet Bushiri’s controversial Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church, where three women were trampled to death last month, have been advised to continue praying and fasting for an additional seven days, after the church’s reopening – which was set for Sunday – was indefinitely postponed, reports Pretoria North Rekord.
“The ECG church international would like to inform all its national offices, branch leaders, stewards, church members, followers and visitors that our 2019 Open Doors Grand Entrance Service, which was scheduled for this Sunday, the 20th of January 2019, is hereby postponed,” ECG church spokesperson and the prophet’s lawyer Terrance Baloyi said.
ALSO READ: SAPS probing deaths of three women at Shepherd Bushiri’s church in Pretoria
Baloyi added that although a new date would be announced “shortly”, there would be no service at any of the church’s branches in the interim.
“All members and followers are advised to continue in prayer and fasting as previously announced by the Apostle Magawa and therefore [an] extension of extra 7 days is hereby implemented.”
The postponement of the church’s reopening comes after it made headlines when three women were trampled to death when a stampede took place during a thunderstorm.
Shortly afterwards an angry group of community civic organisation members staged protests outside the church’s entrance at the Tshwane showgrounds, calling for the church to be shut down and for the well-known prophet to return to his country of origin.
The protests were fuelled by the news that the bodies were removed without proper procedure being followed.
Three people were arrested as they left a local tavern suspected of involvement in the protest.
The trio, currently out on bail, face charges of public violence and violation of the road traffic act. They are due back in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court at the end of February.
Earlier this month, outgoing Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga said a joint site inspection of the church’s premises revealed it did not meet safety standards.
Some of the findings from the inspection included obstructed escape routes, improper storage of dangerous goods, no emergency evacuation plan and insufficient firefighting equipment.
“It is for these reasons that the city will issue an order to comply,” he said.
Msimanga further said a prohibition notice – a notice ordering the occupier to halt any and all activity – would be issued to the church if the church still did not meet the required levels for compliance in 30 days.
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