Penuel Mnguni, a preacher in South Africa who allegedly
ordered his congregation to consume live snakes has been arrested on animal
cruelty charges, RDM News Wire reported. Controversy ensued after pictures of
the congregation eating snakes were posted on the church's Facebook page last
week.
The controversial preacher, who heads End Times Disciples
Ministries in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, told his congregation the snakes
would taste like chocolate. He is to appear in the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrate’s
Court today, 20th of July, 2015 to face animal cruelty charges
brought by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals.
“We are conducting a preliminary inquiry with an intention
of opening a criminal case against him (Mnguni),” said Mishack Matlou‚ a
society inspector. “What we saw in the
pictures is cruel. Imagine being eaten alive! This has to stop,” he said.
Mnguni has also been the subject of controversy in the past
when he made his followers eat hair and rags, claiming God has the power to
make a person eat anything and that his teachings were based on the scripture.
At another occasion, Mnguni said he learned his extreme
teachings from Rev. Lesego Daniel of Rabboni Ministries, who forced his
congregation to eat grass and drink petrol.
The End of Time Disciples Ministries has about 100 to 150 followers and is inside a small tent in a poor area.
