WATCH: Man confesses to burning down a church
An enraged man confessed and explained why he burned the Divine Hope Community Church in Masoyi last week.
MBOMBELA – Alfred Matumbu stated that he had done this after his girlfriend had taken his seven-year-old son away from him.
The church was burned to ashes last Wednesday. Police had opened a case of malicious damage to property and arson. The estimated damage to the church was worth over R70 000.
On Tuesday, Matumbu emailed the Lowvelder, expressing that he wanted to meet and confess to setting the church alight.
Lowvelder met with Matumbu at Wimpy Crossing on Wednesday morning.
He started his story by explaining that he was unemployed and had previously worked in the security industry as a controller. He was currently residing in Mataffin.
Matumbu said he had attempted to get the pastors of the church, which his ex-girlfriend attended, to listen to his story so he could reconcile with her. “They refused to listen to my side of the story. This made me so angry. One of the pastors said I must leave or there would be big trouble. This is what triggered me.”
He said his ex-girlfriend had refused him access to his son. “So I went that day to her house. She does not live far from
the church.
“I sat watching my son from the other side of the road. I thought about how the church had evildoers who were influencing her. These people are not Christians.”
He added that he then walked over to the church. “This was already in the early hours of the morning. I got through an open window. They didn’t have burglar bars. I heaped up all the flammable items. They had carpets that I knew would burn easily. I piled the chairs and everything I could find in the one corner of the church, and I set it alight. I then walked outside and crossed the road and watched it burn to the ground.”
Matumbu broke down in tears during the interview. “I was so angry I wanted to kill her that night. I had a hammer with me, but I thought what if my son woke up, so I went to the church instead. Christmas is coming and I won’t see my son. Something inside me died that night.
I have nothing to live for without him,” he concluded. Just after Lowvelder met with Matumbu, police arrested him at the restaurant. At the time of going to print, Matumbu had not appeared in court.
