Five armed men turned up at the bishop’s home in Pretoria on Tuesday morning declaring their intention to kill the bishop and his wife, who were not at home at the time.

The gunmen returned later in the day to look for them and made comments suggesting they were watching the movements of the bishop and his wife.

On Thursday, two people phoned the house to ask of the bishop’s whereabouts. The callers made threats against the bishop and said he should pack and leave the house.

In a statement, the SACC said it had no information about who is behind the threats or why they want to harm the bishop.

It suspects the threats are connected to Bishop Seoka’s outspoken criticism of corruption and unethical business practices and his commitment to social and economic justice.

The SACC said that although the bishop remains “calm and spiritually strong”, the threats have caused a great deal of anxiety to his family.

The threats have been reported to the police and security has been stepped up around the bishop and his family.

The SACC said: “We cannot take these threats lightly because we know that clergy are often vulnerable. We have been shocked and saddened by past incidents in which clergy and church leaders have been murdered.

“The SACC will not all threats such as these to deter us from pursuing our calling to fulfil the gospel imperatives to be in solidarity with the poor and marginalised and to provide moral leadership to the nation.”