UAAC church battle turns violent

The split within the United African Apostolic Church (UAAC) has turned nasty. Over the past weekend the archbishop of one of the factions was allegedly involved in an altercation with a security guard. Archbishop Itani Mureri (49) appeared in court on Monday (1^st), facing a charge of assault.

The incident allegedly happened at the church’s headquarters at Ha-Mavhunga. The exact details of what had happened were not made public, but Itani Mureri had allegedly kicked a security guard when he was confronted at the entrance to the church centre.

Mureri appeared in the Dzanani Magistrate’s Court on Monday. He was released on a warning and the case was postponed to 29 June. Mureri's court appearance was confirmed by the police’s spokesperson, Brig Motlafela Mojapelo.

The UAAC was founded by the late Paulos Matsea Miriri in 1912 and currently boasts more than 1,5 million church members. The latest conflict within the UAAC has been brewing for well over a year. The cracks started appearing in December 2018, shortly after the death of Archbishop Elias Miriri, the former leader of the church.

After Elias Miriri’s death, a power struggle erupted, with the two main contenders being David Mureri and Itani Mureri. David Mureri is the son of Paul (Paulos) Miriri, who died in 1975, whereas Itani is the son of Elias Miriri.

The leadership dispute has found its way to the courts on more than one occasion. In September last year, judge Francis Kgomo ruled that the matter was not urgent and dismissed an application brought by the group led by Itani Mureri. The case is continuing.

In January this year, judge Kgomo granted a provisional settlement agreement between the groups. The settlement agreement allows for both groups to use the church headquarters at Ha-Mavhunga. The one group will use the premises from 04:00 to 12:00, while the second group will use it from 13:00 to 22:00. Both groups have to provide their own security guards and are responsible for keeping the facilities clean. No party may cause any damage to the structures.

Judge Kgomo gave the parties time until February this year to file supplementary answering affidavits, but whether a date has been set for a hearing is uncertain.

Date:05 June 2020

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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