For over a decade, self-proclaimed prophet Paseka Motsoeneng, better known as Prophet Mboro, has operated with impunity, his Incredible Happenings Ministry a haven for audacious pronouncements and brazen disregard for the law. Last week, however, the flamboyant pastor, accustomed to cruising in a convoy of luxury vehicles flanked by heavily armed men, found himself in the dock of the Palm Ridge Magistrates’ Court, his usual swagger replaced by a subdued demeanor. The charges against Mboro and his “bodyguard”, Clement Baloyi, are serious: kidnapping, possession of a dangerous weapon, possession of an unlicensed weapon, assault, and the discharging and pointing of a firearm .
These charges stem from a shocking incident where two young boys, the children of Mboro’s son, were forcibly removed from their school by a man wielding a panga, part of Mboro’s entourage. The court had previously placed the children in the custody of their grandmother pending a custody battle between their late mother’s family and their father, Mboro’s son. But in Mboro’s world, the law seems to be a mere suggestion, a set of rules that can be conveniently ignored when it suits him.
“A few months ago all these children were in the crèche. And here you have men waving a panga and an AK-47 in front of a primary school. Some of these children have never seen a gun, never mind a machete,” exclaimed prosecutor Pheello Vilakazi, highlighting the gravity of the situation.
Vilakazi further r.