Chaos erupted at the infamous End Times Disciples Ministries church
today when a mob destroyed the church’s tent and set it on fire.
According to South African media, members of the Julius Malema-led
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party on Sunday joined up with
Soshanguve residents of Pretoria to burn down the church belonging to
Penuel Mnguni, a pastor who recently made the news in South Africa for
making congregants eat rats and snakes.
The EFF brigade had vowed to make Penuel Mnguni eat rodents and snakes
like he did to his congregation. Luckily for him, he wasn’t at the
church for Sunday’s service. Rather an unidentified second-in-command of
the pastor took over the service, which had spilled onto the street,
and commanded members to eat leaves. Videos of them eating leaves today
are after the cut.
Mnguni’s absence did not stop the EFF from wreaking havoc on the
premises. They tore down the churches tent before setting it alight and
forced the congregation to disperse. According to an eyewitness:
“Residents
and members of EFF were enraged when a man on the podium continued with
the services while they were inquiring about the whereabouts of the
pastor,” said an eyewitness.
They then decided to burn down the tent
where the church service is normally held and within minutes, the tent
was ablaze. There was also an exchange of blows between congregants and
residents.
Despite the disruptions, the congregation vowed
to continue with the service. Police were said to have monitored the
situation from a few hundred metres away.
Mnguni’s church made
headlines in July after pictures went viral showing him feeding a live
snake to his congregation. He was arrested on charges of animal cruelty.
Before the destruction |
EFF member holding the rat to be fed to the pastor. Luckily for him, he was not around |