The high court ordered that alterations to the church building be halted until the leadership battle is resolved
The prominent St John Apostolic Church of Prophecy has been rocked by an intensifying dispute between rival factions, with the battle now playing out in court as the warring leadership trade accusations.
The North West High Court in Mafikeng has halted all further structural alterations to the church’s historic building at the centre of a long-running leadership battle between rivals Archbishop Billy Patrick Ramokoka and the church’s hereditary claimant Tebogo Joseph Nku.
The church’s notable members include Hendrietta Ipeleng Bogopane-Zulu, a respected disability activist and long-serving former deputy minister of social development.
Another prominent member was the late Kebby Maphatsoe, former president of the now-disbanded Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) and deputy minister of defence.
He was ordained as a bishop of the church by Archbishop Billy Ramokoka in April 2016 in Motlollo village.
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St John Apostolic Church of Prophecy’s court battles
A judgment, delivered on 7 November, temporarily stayed an earlier order obtained by Nku in August.
That initial order barred Ramokoka’s faction from demolishing the church structure located at Vogelstruisdraai Farm in Motlollo, near Madikwe.
The order has suspended all construction work, except temporary protective measures, until Part B of the application was finalised.
Leadership dispute
Part B would determine the legitimate Archbishop of the church in a leadership dispute that dates back years and has its roots in the divisions that surfaced after the death of successive archbishops of the church, which was founded by Christina Mokotudi Nku.
Rival factions have allegedly clashed over property rights and leadership claims.
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‘Destroying a sacred building’
In the current application, Nku approached the court alleging that the Ramokoka faction was demolishing the church and intending to replace it with a new structure.
He argued that removing the roof and interior fittings amounted to destroying a historically significant and sacred building.
But the Ramokoka faction denied this, contending that the work was part of authorised renovations and improvements supported by a construction agreement signed in June.
They accused Nku of material non-disclosure when seeking the order and argued that reversing the renovations, such as reinstating the roof, was not practical.
The court found that while Nku may have exaggerated the extent of demolition, his concerns were not deliberately misleading.
Construction work on church halted
Photographs before the court show that although the roof had been removed, the walls and main structural framework were still intact.
“The heart of the matter is preservation of the structure and avoidance of irreversible prejudice,” Acting Judge B. Mabuza stated in the ruling.
All other construction work, especially on the exterior or load-bearing elements, has been halted until the leadership dispute is resolved.
According to a church member from the Nku faction, who asked not to be named, they we were in court last Friday in Mahikeng
“The judge dismissed the proceedings. He did not strike our application off the roll, so we still have a chance to fight. This was until we submit a document… but our counsel is busy with it,” the member said.
Neither of the rivalling church leaders had responded to requests for comment at the time of publishing.
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