Church set alight after 'panga pastor' threatens primary school staff

The church of controversial religious leader Paseka 'Mboro' Motsoeneng has been set alight, after he threatened staff with a panga at Matsediso Primary School in Katlehong.

Motsonoeng was accompanied by another man brandishing a panga, and one who carried an assault rifle.

The 'pastor' forcefully removed two young children from the premises on Monday after their father was apparently denied permission to take them home.

On Tuesday morning, a crowd of people descended on his Incredible Happenings church in Katlehong, and set fire to the structure.

It's reported that there were a number of pupils in school uniform among the crowd.

John Perlman gets an update from Kgomotso Modise, reporter at Eyewitness News.

She confirms that the names of the five people (four initially, and subsequently a fifth) now arrested after the incident at the primary school have not been released, as is required by law before suspects appear in court.

Modise explains that the community are up in arms, as their understanding was that Motsoeneng was not among those arrested.

Her understanding is that the school pupils seen running from the burning church on Tuesday, went there with the intention of setting it on fire.

"What we've heard today is that the community policing forum (CPF) were briefed from the early hours of this morning that this may happen and so security was beefed up around the tent... but it did very little to help. These are the same marshalls that have been helping church members salvage what they could."

"CPF members work with the police, but when I arrived on the scene there was no police presence; it was just CPF members and the tent had already been set alight.... but over the last few hours the presence of police has become heavier and heavier."

Kgomotso Modise, Eyewitness News reporter

Modise says a case of arson has been opened, and an investigation is underway.

While the school pupils on the scene were too afraid to talk to the media, she goes on, one member of the church did tell her that they are unfazed by today's events.

"There was the sound of explosions; I believe there were gas tanks inside that tent. The students that I approached didn't want to speak to the media... However, the people that were very keen to speak were members of the church..."

"They're calling what happened here a form of resurrection and they say this has been prophesied by their leader, pastor Mboro. They didn't want to comment on the school incident, but one lady said it's clear that the children that set the church alight are being used by their parents in some sort of a fight."

Kgomotso Modise, Eyewitness News reporter

Modise says it appears that the church members feel everything that has happened is a personal attack on pastor Mboro, which he has prophesied about.

The five people arrested after the school incident are set to appear in court on Wednesday.