A place of worship was turned into Sodom and Gomorrah more than two weeks ago, when worshippers were forced to strip naked by two thugs and made to engage in acts of indecency for over two hours.
They were also robbed of their belongings, including cellphones.
According to reports, at least 18 congregants from the Showers of Blessings in Zion Church in Taiwan informal settlement were present when the suspects swooped.
One of the church members was reportedly made to perform oral sex on one of them in full view of other congregants.
A church member who spoke on condition of anonymity said the incident occurred about 16:00 on Sunday 9 April.
The two young men arrived at the church shortly before scheduled load shedding, switched the lights off and began tormenting the worshippers. They reportedly searched them individually and ordered them to strip naked and sit down.
“The two men came in and immediately switched the lights off,” the congregant said.
“They swore at us demanding phones.”
She added the incident had left her traumatised. The six worshippers voluntarily handed their cellphones over and were made to sit in a line, she related.
After more than two hours, when the power was restored, one of the congregants realised the gun was an imitation weapon.
“While they were busy stripping off our clothes the electricity came back on, and that was when someone noticed one of them was carrying an imitation gun,” the congregant related.
“At this point one of the thugs removed the bulb, plunging the building into darkness again.”
She said she urged another female congregant sitting next to her to assist in grabbing the man with the imitation gun.
“He heard me and said ‘ingathi unento eninzi wena’. Then he took his trousers down, lay down and instructed me to perform oral sex, and I relented.”
She added all the worshippers were naked at the time.
The distraught woman said she and the others were saved after one of the criminals took a child of one of the women hostage. She reportedly chased after them to save her child.
“We were able to scream, and some of the community came out and the culprits ran away,” the congregant said.
“But no full-on rape took place.”
On Monday 17 April, Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the church to interact with the congregants.
However, he refused to comment on the merits of the case, stating that the matter was before the courts. He stated the church members deserved some form of counselling.
