SOUTH Africa’s communists denounced the “proto-fascist” Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) yesterday for attacking a bizarre church sect.

An EFF-led mob burnt down a marquee housing controversial pastor Penuel Mnguni’s church in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, on Sunday.

But EFF Gauteng provincial spokesperson Ntobeng Ntobeng claimed on Monday that the group had not incited the crowd to arson, instead blaming angry residents.

Mr Mguni hit the headlines after it was revealed that he had persuaded his congregants to eat grass, rodents and snakes and drink petrol.

The South African Communist Party in Gauteng noted the EFF’s “desperate attempt” to distance itself from the “violent rampage,” which it said violated the constitutional right to freedom of religion.

It condemned both the pastor and the EFF, saying: “They both displayed contempt for the working class and poor, through religious and fanatical extremism.”