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Pretoria - Controversial 'snake pastor' Penuel Mnguni is back to preaching in Soshanguve following the destruction of his tent earlier this month, and he claims to have made congregants speak in "Nigerian" and "Chinese".
The Facebook page for his End Times Disciples Ministries posted a notice last week saying the pastor would hold an all night prayer session on Friday at the hall of the Ayanda Primary School.
The page included images and descriptions of the pastor's "miracles" alleged to have taken place during Friday's session, as well as of a Sunday service that appears to be in the same hall.
The pastor "commanded the sheep to come to the front" and he also commanded the "spirit of the snake to enter them".
"They started moving like snakes and behaving like snakes. He then sent them to go to Nigeria and they started to speak like Nigerians. He further demonstrated by sending them into the water and commanded them to swim. They all started swimming and behaving like the different creatures living under the sea," according to an update posted on the Facebook page.
'Turned them into sheep'
"He then turned them into sheep and they started bleating like goats making sounds as if they were goats. He turned one of them into a horse, climbed on top of him, and turned his head to become his feet and he stood on his head with his legs up.
"... He [also] turned them into statues, he then commanded them to speak in different languages that no one can understand, and some even spoke in Chinese. The last demonstration was when he commanded them to sleep and hit one woman on her back. The man of God woke her up and asked her if she felt any pain, she responded by saying that she felt no pain."
The pastor has been criticised for having his flock nibble on a snake, and bite off part of a rat’s tail.
On August 9, the pastor's tent was set alight allegedly by members of the Economic Freedom Fighters. The party however denied this saying that while they led a march to the tent, local residents torched it.
In his opening message on Friday night, posted on the Facebook page, he told his congregants that what God will do for their lives "is still going to confuse many people".
'People are going to persecute you'
"Those that thought that they are taking us down were taking us up... If you are a man of God when you leave this place people are going to persecute you because of what is going to happen in this place tonight," he said.
"We believe in the Lord, what God is going to do upon your life is unexplainable because it will cause the rising and falling of many. We are no longer like the prophets of old, when people see you they must run away because they do not understand you because of the spirit in you."
The page also showed images of a woman that he commanded "the spirit of snake" to enter into.
"She began to manifest as the snake and the man of God commanded the spirit of snake to come out. The woman was set free," the page said.
The SA Council of Churches last week called for the basic certification of pastors to protect people from "objectionable, heretical and alien" practices.
The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities said it would investigate some South African churches and traditional healing practices.
