VANDERBIJLPARK. – Eight villains’ “church visit” culminated in a crime drama last Friday evening (May 17) when they kidnapped two women from the NG Congregation Vanderbijlpark-South’s parking lot.

The drama started just after 18:00 when churchgoers were already in the church for the Pentecost service. Only two ladies were still busy with some tasks outside. (They are called Mrs. A and B because they do not want to be identified in the newspaper).

Mrs. A went to the church kitchen to get soup and sandwiches ready for serving after the service, while Mrs. B stayed outside. Eight black men suddenly arrived in two separate vehicles and asked Mrs. B if it was the Apostolic Church. She explained that it was an NG congregation, but immediately became suspicious about these unusual “churchgoers”. The next moment they forced open the church grounds gate, which was still ajar, and gained access to the premises. Mrs. B was grabbed and forced into one of the villains’ vehicles, after which three of them drove away with her. The five others remained in the parking lot, presumably to steal vehicles.

When Mrs. A came out of the kitchen and saw that her friend was gone and the gate was pushed from its track, she knew something was wrong. She wanted to go look for help in the church building but the five suspects suddenly emerged from the parking lot and grabbed her by the arms. She fought back fiercely and suffered bruises and scrapes in the process. She was eventually forced into the suspects’ vehicle, struggling. The suspects wanted to enter the church but Mrs. A consistently pleaded that they should leave the members alone. The five then drove away with her in their second vehicle.

The first group of suspects meanwhile drove through the streets of SW5 while forcing Mrs. B to keep her head down. She saw that one of the men was armed with a knife. They dropped her off a short distance from the church. She walked back to the church, where she stormed into the service traumatized and shouted that Mrs. A was kidnapped. The male members went outside while the women and children were secured in the church building.

Meanwhile, the other group of suspects released Mrs. A at the back of a nearby shopping centre.  After several terrifying minutes, trying to find her way back in the dark, she encountered a security guard from A-Sec Security in his car, who took her back to the church. Dr Eon Coetzee, pastor of the congregation, arrived on the scene at this stage after he had obligations at another congregation.

“It was a very bad experience and very traumatic for everyone who was there. We are grateful to the Lord that no one was seriously hurt,” he says.

He invited churchgoers who were traumatized by the events and needed to talk about it to contact him. Counselling was also arranged for Mrs. A and B .

Dr Coetzee says additional security measures have been taken to ensure churchgoers’ safety.