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Bizarre cult male members fined
More articles on this topic: Patience Hama Ncube and Memory NcubeThen male members of the bizarre Bulawayo-based cult which broke away from the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and have been in the news since January had their court cases finalised on Wednesday.
They were convicted and sentenced on charges of contravening the Miscellaneous Offences Act and the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
Six of the men were represented by lawyer Mr Mehluli Ndlovu of Coghlan and Welsh Legal Practitioners. They had since pleaded guilty and were out on bail while the other four were still in custody.
On Wednesday, the four who had questioned some essential elements of the charges during the previous hearing on 13 March, all pleaded guilty to the charges when they appeared before city magistrate Mr Lizwe Jamela who has been presiding over the cult case since 30 January.
They were each fined $500 000 (or two months in prison) on the first count of contravening the Miscellaneous Offences Act and $250 000 (or one month in prison) for contravening the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
The 10 are Jonathan Mkandla, Theo Bekezela Mkandla and Antony Mkandla who are all believed to be brothers, as well as Rodrick Mbano, Thembelani Dube, Thabani Mguni, Darlington Ndaba Chimira, Hloniphani Sibanda, Thabani Edgar Dube and Simiso Dube.
Their respective ages and addresses were not stated.
The Mkandla brothers and three others represented by Mr Ndlovu had been further remanded out of custody to Wednesday to allow the State to separate the record from the other four who had their plea of guilt changed to that of not guilty after they questioned some essential elements of the charges.
Charges of contravening the Miscellaneous Offences Act arose from their alleged disruption of business at a local bank and at the Central Police Station in the city on 25 January when they were called by the cult leader, Patience Hama-Ncube.
The contravention of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act arose from their refusal to furnish police with their identity particulars and residential addresses when they were arrested.
The 10, together with 22 other members, who are mostly women, were arrested on 25 January for committing the offences and had spent more than a month in remand prison at Khami and Mlondolozi as they refused to give their personal details or appear in court.
However, eighteen female members have remained defiant and are still in remand prison and are set for another routine remand tomorrow before their trial on Wednesday.
Four juveniles, comprising three girls and one boy, who were part of the group, were last month cautioned and discharged by city magistrate Mr Robinson Mahachi who said they must return to school.
This now leaves 18 female adult members of the cult still in custody and a year-old baby.
During the past two months they have refused to appear before a magistrate during routine remands and instead remained singing and praying in the court cells.
The cult appears headed for disintegration and is likely to remain female-dominated after most of the male members who have come out of remand prison have indicated that they no longer want to be part of the sect.
However, the female members, led by sisters Patience Hama-Ncube and Memory Ncube, have remained united and defiant and vowed that they “will never be tried under any earthly laws.”
They have said God has a purpose for their incarceration and they have “no regrets staying at Mlondolozi Prison”.
The cult members divorced their spouses, left their jobs and sold their houses and properties to concentrate on “serving the Lord”.
At the time of their arrest, they were staying at a flat along Samuel Parirenyatwa Street in the city from where they conducted their lessons, services and outreach programmes to their would-be converts, mostly Seventh-Day Adventist members whom they said needed to be saved first before other Christians as they are the chosen people.
Three members remained behind looking after more than 20 incarcerated members’ children aged between two and 15 years at the flat.
However, some of the children have since been taken away by relatives and less than 10 remained two weeks ago following reports that the children were on the verge of starvation as food reserves were dwindling by each day.
The Department of Social Welfare in Bulawayo said it was closely monitoring the situation at the flat, pending the trial of the female members of the cult who left their children stranded.
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