Cape Town - A group of pastors from various Cape Town churches marched to Parliament on Friday, demanding 100% capacity in their churches over the Easter weekend.
Approximately 90 church leaders marched from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, (CPUT) campus to Parliament for a “National Day of Protest and Prayer Against The Third Wave”.
Church gatherings were banned when the country returned to adjusted level 3 lockdown in December after they were also perceived by the government as super-spreader events of Covid-19.
As lockdown restrictions have eased, gatherings – including religious, social, political and cultural gatherings – have been permitted, subject to limitations on size, adherence to social distancing and other health protocols.
The maximum number of people allowed at any gathering is 100 people indoors or 250 people outdoors. However, where the venue is too small to accommodate these numbers with appropriate social distancing, then no more than 50% of the capacity of the venue may be used.
Under the new regulations, night vigils or other gatherings before or after funerals are still not permitted.
Pastor Z. Baliso, provincial convener of Pastors Against Church Closures, said that last yea,r pastors were unable to celebrate Easter due to lockdown, and they do not want a repeat of last year.
“We wanted to make it clear that we are declaring it Passover and continuing ahead as it is an important event. We are the custodians of the church and we don't want a decision to be made on our behalf.
“We wanted to tell government that we are so disappointed at the brutality of the police towards pastors, and that it is uncalled for.”
Baliso explained that for Easter, they want 100%, and thereafter, demand 50% capacity.
He said that pastors also feel disrespected, as it was their second march, following the previous one held on February 5. The pastors handed their memorandum over to a representative from the presidency’s office after reading their demand out.
“We regard church as a spiritual life; our people have life in church so how can you close church?”
Video: Henk Kruger/African News Agency
When asked about the concern of church being a super-spreader event, Baliso said:
“Church cannot be a super-spreader, if other activities are not super-spreaders. Church is very compliant, we know what needs to be done. If business are operating and being compliant, then the church will do the same.
“We are not concerned ... because we were never really a super-spreader event.”
During Thursday’s digicon, Premier Alan Winde said that residents need to guard against the risks of the Easter weekend becoming a super-spreader event.
Winde said: “Our numbers in the province are still looking good, and I’m happy to report that on Wednesday, we recorded no deaths from Covid-19.
“However, we must all understand that there is still a risk in the upcoming Easter weekend. Everything we’re doing now is in an effort to push the possible third wave as far back as possible so we don’t make the Easter weekend a super-spreader event.”
“We already have an environment in place where we restrict gatherings, and we need to make sure that we adhere to this and stick to the rules about physical distancing, washing hands, wearing masks and sanitising, thus mitigating that risk,” said Winde.
* Additional reporting by Mwangi Githahu
Cape Argus