DURBAN - THOUSANDS of members of the Nazareth Baptist Church eBuhleni branch marched in Durban yesterday in support of Mduduzi Shembe, whom they regard as their leader. About 6 000 members of the church marched from King Dinuzulu Park to the Durban City Hall in one of the biggest demonstrations held in the city since the Covid-19 lockdown last March. The march also flouted Covid-19 lockdown level 2 regulations, which allow a maximum of 500 people for outdoor events.

The mass crowd marched in support of Mduduzi, who they see as the rightful leader of the Ebuhleni branch. This comes after a long-standing leadership dispute that went to court following the death of the church’s spiritual leader, Vimbeni Shembe, in 2011. In 2016, the Durban High Court ruled that the now deceased Vela Shembe of the Thembezinhle branch was the rightful successor following Vimbeni’s death. However Mduduzi and his faction inEb uh le ni appealed against the decision. The Constitutional Court refused leave to appeal in June this year. Upon handing their memorandum over to the city, Nkosinathi Makhanya, who was the convenor of the event, read it out to the crowd. Makhanya stated that the march was a demonstration of their support for their “true” leader Mduduzi, whom they refer to as Unyazi Lwezulu.

“Our interpretation and recognition of uShembe is not guided by institutes of the law, but by spiritual guidance,” he said.

Makhanya further stated that the court ruling was a violation of their human right to serve the God of their choice.

“It is our choice to be led by Unyazi Lwezulu, no one forced us, and no one has a right to force us, to be led.”

He further stated that it is not their intention to go against the court’s ruling or the faction that did not support Unyazi Lwezulu.

“However, we will not be moved in our decision to serve Him as our King. We are not sheep to be instructed, neither are we oblivious to the King chosen by the court, but our decision is final,” he stated.

Videos of the march circulated on social media, with people raising concerns about the violation of the Covid-19 regulations. In response to the concerns, Makhanya said they had made an application for 500 people to march, as per the Covid-19 regulations.

“We did not anticipate that people would show up in these numbers, however, we had organised with the metro police to assist us in dividing the people into segments of 500. We made sure from our part that everyone was wearing a mask, and we were continuously spraying sanitisers in the air,” said Makhanya.

Metro police spokesperson Parboo Sewparsad said the application for the march was made for 500 people.

“The metro police were part of the authorities present in the march, and it is up to the police to determine any violation of the Covid-19 regulations,” he said.

THE MERCURY