went along with the Hawks and the National Intervention Unit and Tactical Response. They infiltrated the Seven Angels Ministry compound after receiving a tip-off about the whereabouts of the firearms used in the Ngcobo Police Shooting. A shootout between police officials and the suspects left seven people within the compound dead, three of whom were Mancoba brothers. Over ten arrests were made that day, with four of the suspects being directly linked to the shootout that occurred days earlier at the police station. Young girls and women were rescued from the compound. Sex Cult In the days following the arrests made at Seven Angels Ministry, more than 40 women and young girls whom authorities believed were sex slaves for the Mancoba brothers were taken in for questioning. A majority of the women rescued from the compound were under the age of 25, with some being as young as 12 years old. Children were also not allowed to have birth certificates. Despite all of them being married, the Mancoba brothers considered the many other women in the compound as their wives too; satisfying the brothers sexually was seen as a service to God. The majority of the women who were questioned about the cult were not forthcoming with information to authorities; and even after the shootout with police officials, they demanded to return to Seven Angels. Commission of Inquiry The Seven Angels Ministry had already been under investigation since 2016 by the Commission for Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL), for breach of ethics. Currently in South Africa, there is no legislation to self-regulate newly formed religious bodies. Appearing before the commission in 2016, Banele Mancoba, the leader of the church, explained their purpose as a being of divine intervention on earthly matters; it consisted of seven representatives. While the investigation into Seven Angels Ministry was private at the time, the chairperson of the CRL, Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, did forward recommendations to a parliamentary portfolio committee to expedite actions against the Mancoba brothers, but they were rejected. The portfolio committee made its own recommendations to the CRL, that it should convene a national consultative conference to engage all religious bodies. The parliamentary portfolio committee sent these recommendations on the same day the Ngcobo killings took place. See also Charismatic Christianity South African Police Service External links References Murder in South Africa Religion in South Africa