President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that places of worship will be allowed to reopen from June 1 when the country moves to level 3 of the lockdown.
The president said churches would only be allowed to congregate under strict restrictions, which include hosting only 50 people and less and ensuring all worshipers wear face masks.
Cooperative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma is expected to detail the regulations for level 3 of the lockdown this week.
“All religious organisations must put protocols in place for, among other things, thoroughly cleaning and sanitising places for worship before and after services,” he said.
“Our faith communities must ensure that any religious rituals that carry even the slightest possibility of exposing worshipers to risk should be avoided, and that where they form an essential part of religious practice, that sanitisation is paramount,” he added.
Ramaphosa also said that Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize, had advised him that over 20 000 people have now been infected by COVID-19 and close to 500 people have died due to the virus. More than 11 000 people have recovered from the global pandemic.
He said Sunday 31 March would be a national day of prayer,
“We welcome the offers that have been made by several religious bodies to make their facilities available for the fight against the coronavirus – by providing additional space for school lessons, for quarantine, for screening and testing or for places of shelter for survivors of gender-based violence,” he said.
