MANKAYANE – As the dispute at Ekuthokozeni Africa Evangelical Church (AEC) intensifies, the area’s royal kraal has resolved to lock the church gates pending resolution of the matter.
The decision reportedly came as a surprise to the church’s Regional Executive Committee.
Confirmation that the premises had been locked was provided yesterday by Indvuna King Msibi, who said the action was taken in the interest of preserving peace amid growing tensions between two factions within the congregation.
Msibi explained that the royal kraal intervened after being informed that the parties were no longer seeing eye to eye, raising fears of possible confrontation at the church premises.
“One faction informed the royal kraal that they are not seeing eye to eye with the other. Given the severity of the dispute, the royal kraal decided to lock the gate so that neither party could access the church pending a resolution,” said Msibi.
He stated that the royal kraal had expected both parties to approach it for deliberations. However, only one faction had formally presented its concerns, prompting the kraal to act to prevent further escalation.
“We did not want to be seen as biased by allowing one party to access the church, while the dispute remains unresolved,” he said.
Msibi further indicated that failure to intervene could have resulted in the royal kraal being held accountable should violence erupt without any attempt at preventative action.
He clarified that the royal kraal has no direct involvement in the internal affairs of the church but is concerned about the dispute as it relates to a structure built on Eswatini Nation Land.
“We have reported the matter to Zombodze Royal Kraal, as this area does not have a chief (lihambate). The royal kraal is prepared to deliberate on the issue should both parties decide to come forward,” he said.
According to Msibi, the royal kraal was initially under the impression that the dispute was being managed internally by the church. However, they later became aware of the seriousness of the matter through media reports.
“We then heard that the matter had been referred to the High Court, but we are uncertain about its current status,” he added.
Reliable sources indicated that members of the church executive had visited the premises to request the handover of keys and control of the church’s bank accounts after receiving information that some members of the Ekuthokozeni AEC committee had resigned. The reported resignations allegedly left the church without a functional leadership structure to conduct services.
Last week, it was reported that the leadership of Ekuthokozeni AEC resigned en masse from their roles and representative positions within the AEC structures.
The resignations were tendered between February 4 and 5 2026, following a High Court application aimed at preventing the branch from breaking away.
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