The intrusion of a group of armed men coming to "take possession" of the premises of a Pentecostal church on Saturday July 11 in Johannesburg in South Africa left at least five people dead. According to South African police, this bloodshed is the latest episode in a violent "war" of succession after the death of its charismatic founder in 2016.

"Four people were found shot dead and burned in a car, a fifth victim, a security guard, was shot dead in his vehicle," said a statement from South African police chief Khehla John Sitole.

Early Saturday, a group of gunmen broke into a building of the Pentecostal International Holy Church in Zuurbekom, a western suburb of Johannesburg, "indicating that they were coming to take possession of the premises," the statement said.

The police chief said his men intervened after reports of "gunfire and an alleged hostage-taking situation" in the church where 34 firearms were seized.

"I am sure that the rapid response from the security forces prevented what could have been an even more serious bloodbath," said Sitole.

Forty people were arrested, including six injured taken to hospital.

Quarrel over the founder's estate

Among them, police, soldiers and members of the prison service, all out of service and present on the premises as followers of the Church, according to the police.

 The police chief said the authorities were investigating "the possibility that the attack was motivated by a quarrel between the parties to the conflict" within the Church.

 A "war" of succession, widely covered by the local media, has shaken this Protestant Church since the death in 2016 of its leader and founder, the multimillionaire Comforter Glayton Modise.

This "war" has since given rise to several incidents, notably in 2018 when an exchange of fire near the Church premises in Zuurbekom left three people injured.

In 2017, parties to the conflict went to court over the alleged disappearance of $ 6.5 million from Church funds, one of the largest in South Africa with approximately 1.5 million members .

With AFP

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