The pastor who presided over the baptism ceremony where 15 congregants died after being swept away by the heavy tide at Jukskei river in Bramley Park outside Alexandra in Johannesburg must answer for the lost lives.
While the Johannesburg Emergency Services members were this week battling to find a three-month-old baby who is believed to have been washed away by flash floods last Saturday, no one knows the whereabouts of the pastor, who has widely been accused of being responsible for the tragedy.
“If the church leaders are failing to come to us to explain what really happened at the river, then there is something they are hiding. Why is the pastor not coming to visit our families to explain what really happened?
“Clearly there is something they are hiding from us, and we urge the police to hunt the church leader down so that he can provide us with answers,” said a woman who refused to give her name.
Families of some of the deceased were still reeling from shock and pain of losing their loved ones when Sunday World visited them on Friday.
One of those is Clever Mnguni, who lost his wife, 62-year-old Lizzy Masula, and his 19-year-old granddaughter Khothatso Masula. “I am hurt that I lost my wife and my grandchild. When I came back from the government mortuary to identify the bodies of Lizzy and Khothatso, I felt numb. The pain just shrouded me. I have so many questions but unfortunately nobody has come forward to provide me with answers.”
Mnguni’s niece, Sihle Mnguni, said: “My aunt and my niece have been visiting the church for spiritual purposes since last year, but they were, however, never baptised. The worst part is that we never knew where this church was other than knowing that it was attended in the veld. It’s hurtful that the person who took them to the river has disappeared.”
The church leader is said to have taken more than 30 worshippers to the Jukskei river, notorious for drownings and strong currents during heavy rains, to be baptised before half of the congregants who attended were swept away by the heavy floods.
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