The multinational funeral company, Icebolethu Group has rejected claims it delivered a coffin that contained bricks during the funeral of the leader of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Holy Spirit Church in Zion leader, President Thamsanqa Elijah Nkonyane, in Osizweni, Newcastle, last weekend.
The family of the late president of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Holy Spirit in Zion Church, popularly known as the eNyonini Mission, is racing against time to obtain a court order to exhume what is believed to be the body of church leader Thamsanqa Elijah Nkonyane following dramatic scenes that unfolded at his funeral last weekend.
Nkonyane, who led the church for more than five decades after assuming leadership in 1969, died two weeks ago at his Richmond Farm home in Durban.
His funeral, which was scheduled to take place at the church's headquarters in Jakkals Span, Osizweni, near Newcastle, descended into chaos after his wife, Dolly Nkonyane, known as MaNgcobo, obtained an urgent interdict from the Pietermaritzburg High Court preventing the burial from proceeding.
Police later intervened at the well-attended funeral service to enforce the court order.
