Isabelo Home

OVER 1 000 Nazareth Baptist Church members yesterday flocked the Isabelo Home, Lozitha, for the official opening of the church’s two-week long conference. The conference was officially opened by the church leader King Shembe. He did so by merely coming out of his house and waved to the crowd for less than a minute. Surprisingly, the worshippers celebrated and danced at that short appearance of their leader, saying it was the greatest moment of the day. Before meeting their leader for the few seconds, they first went to the main gate where they prayed then sang their songs to the temple where they normally hold services, a few metres from Shembe’s house. Senior Pastor Mhlephila Mthethwa said the ceremony was called the Umgidi. He explained that throughout their stay in the country, they would have prayer services in the morning and afternoon. weekThe church members come from different places, Kwazulu Natal, Mozambique, Johannesburg and Natal, to name a few. Shembe will spend one more week in the country. Mthethwa said their leader felt that it would not be proper for him to spend only a week in the country having travelled a long distance. He revealed that it would be for the first time their leader spends such a long time in a country.“Swaziland is one lucky country, it has never happened in a history of any country to have King Shembe staying for such a long time,” he said. The Shembe leader arrived on Tuesday during which it was revealed that he would be in the country for only a week. Mthethwa also stated that on Sunday, they would meet His Majesty King Mswati III. Minister of Home Affairs Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze also confirmed that Shembe and his men would have a prayer session with His Majesty. From the country Shembe will visit the Zulu Royal Residence, something Mthethwa described as a rare occurrence; that is, visiting a kingdom soon after departure from another.Meanwhile, Mthethwa came down hard on Swazi church members for not marrying Zulu girls, saying it is not right. He wondered if the Swazi men had problems sexually and otherwise or they merely hated Zulus. “Are you not circumcised? If not you must do something about it because we also have beautiful women who can make beautiful wives. Why don’t you Swazis take from the Zulu King whose Ndlunkulu is a Swazi,” he said. The Swazi men lamented that the Zulu girls were too expensive when it came to paying dowry but Mthethwa said that could be negotiated.