• Shembe Church members climb Nhlangakazi mountain every January to honour their founder’s 1908 spiritual calling.

• Three different church groups now share the holy mountain while a fourth uses another site.

Every January, members of the Shembe Church climb the holy mountain of Nhlangakazi to honour a promise made by their founder in 1908.

Church veterans told Scrolla.Africa that Prophet Isaiah Shembe first came to Durban after the holy spirit called him in dreams.

Thetha Ngiba from ekuPhakameni said Shembe was living in Ntabazwe, present Harrismith, Free State when he got the call.

“The voice of the holy spirit kept on talking to Shembe for a very long time in his dreams until he decided to go to the mountain of Nhlangakazi north of Durban, which was a place he never set foot in since he was born.

“This is where the holy spirit spoke to him and he then started the Shembe Church in 1908 – not 1910, as others claim. He spent days and weeks in the mountain listening to what God wanted him to do,” said Ngiba.

When the holy spirit spoke to Shembe on the mountain, there was a thunderstorm. The church’s first temple was at the Msizini Men’s Hostel near Durban Station.

Veteran Thokozani Mncwabe said Shembe could have gone to any mountain in the Free State, but God sent him to Nhlangakazi.

“Every January we go there to revive our vow of commitment to God almighty who came to Shembe in 1908. When we get there each follower puts a rock on their head to show the sign of commitment.

“We then throw those rocks to the pile of stones to promote the spirit of togetherness,” said Mncwabe.

He said they don’t hurt any animals during their holy journey – even snakes pass by peacefully.

Three church groups now share the Nhlangakazi mountain in Ndwedwe, north of Durban: the main ekuPhakameni home, Gibyezinye and Thembezinhle.

The eBuhleni group uses a different mountain called Canaan.

The ekuPhakameni group returned to using Nhlangakazi in 1989 after staying away since 1977, when eBuhleni broke away.

Pictured above: Shembe Nazareth Baptist Church founder Prophet Isaiah Shembe known as Bhombela Stimela Samampondo (The Train of AmaMpondo Nation)

Source: Shembe