South Africa - Heavily armed security forces have been sent to the holy mountain of Nhlangakazi, near Ndwedwe, to prevent a potentially explosive situation today between two Shembe church factions. The factions will be holding the annual pilgrimage together for the first time since 1976.
The deployment of security forces comes after an urgent meeting held in Durban between the provincial commissioner of police, Hamilton Ngidi, and the leaders of one of the factions.
For the first time in history, the two factions which emerged in the 1970s after a fierce battle for power which has claimed many lives, will meet at Nhlangakazi Mountain in Ndwedwe, west of Tongaat, this afternoon.
The majority faction which is based at Ebuhleni in Inanda, is currently camping at the foot of the mountain and waiting for the minority group based in Ekuphakameni also in Inanda to leave the mountain. The group has been at the mountain since Sunday.
There is fear that there will be a clash this afternoon when Ekuphakameni group descend the mountain, going down a narrow path in the middle of thousands of Ebuhleni faction members.
Ngidi told the Daily News yesterday that he had been approached by the church leaders of one of the factions to discuss security arrangements to avoid a potential clash. Ngidi refused to disclose the number of security forces deployed.
The Shembe church split into two factions in 1976 following the death of its leader Bishop Johannes Galilee Shembe. Both factions use the same name but take different views on almost everything else.
Relations between the two factions worsened late last year with the minority Ekuphakameni group seeking a Durban High Court order to allow them to go to the mountain. This was after they were allegedly prohibited from going to the mountain by traditional leaders aligned to the majority faction.
The court granted them permission to remain on the mountain until this afternoon, then they had to give way to the other group - allowing them to start their pilgrimage.
Yesterday, the Ebuhleni group camped about 15 kilometres away from the mountain and moved to the foot of the mountain early today.
Said Ngidi: "It emerged at the meeting that it was crucial to deploy our members to make certain that nothing happened. The decision was taken after concerns were raised about safety and based on discussions that we had, it was decided to deploy our personnel there."
The spokesman for the majority faction which has more than four million members, Chancey Sibisi, said they would avoid any unnecessary direct contact of the two groups.
"We are not going to push them to leave the mountain. We don't want anything that will spark unnecessary arguments between them and our members. It is an undeniable truth that we don't see eye to eye. We will just wait patiently until they leave. We will do that by erecting our tents while waiting for them," he said.
Edward Ximba of Ekuphakameni faction said he hoped people would avoid any conflict, saying that they would make sure that they leave on time.