A church belonging to controversial South African preacher Pastor Mboro has been set alight, amid allegations he wielded machetes at a primary school and forcibly removed his grandchildren.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, saw five people arrested and charged with crimes including assault, intimidation, and malicious damage to property.
Video footage showed Pastor Mboro, real name Paseka Motsoeneng, waving blades during a tense stand-off with teachers in Katlehong, a township just outside Johannesburg.
Provincial authorities said the two young children filmed being removed are at the centre of a custody battle after their mother passed away.
Reacting to the incident, Prophet Shepherd Bushiri, a long-time critic of Mboro, said: “After fighting me in the name of fighting for South Africans, he is now fighting the same South Africans with guns and knives…
“You can’t fight an innocent man because you think he is a threat to your interests and have your things move well.”
Bushiri, who has had a history with Mboro, accused him of being instrumental in the persecution he faced, saying: “He was very instrumental to the crooked Hawks and police that hunted my wife and myself, day and night. Some were even under his payroll.”
The incident has sparked widespread outrage, with South African education minister Siviwe Gwarube commenting: “I am absolutely incensed by this attack on our schools, staff and learners…
No one – absolutely no one – should break into schools with weapons interrupting teaching and learning time and terrorising children.”
