EFF, ACDP face-off over reopening of churches
THE EFF AND ACDP continue to be at each other’s throats over a decision by the government to allow churches to reopen, which the red berets have rejected as “murderous and illogical”.
From today, religious gatherings of up to 50 people at places of worship are permitted, pending the approval of the National Coronavirus Command Council led by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The council had been lobbied by religious bodies who wanted to be included in the sectors which were allowed to operate under lockdown level 3.
The ACDP and its president, the Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, were among those who have lobbied for places of worship to open, despite being flagged as fertile grounds for Covid-19 mass infections.
Yesterday, EFF national spokesperson Vuyani Pambo blasted the ACDP’s push for the opening of churches as “dangerous, murderous and hypocritical”.
“To show that ACDP is driven by ill intentions, their justification for opening places of worship rests on the fact that churches contribute to the economy.
“In their recent statement, they go to the extent of demonstrating that churches employ people, pay taxes and make financial contributions to the Covid-19 Solidarity Fund,” Pambo said.
ACDP national executive committee member Bongani Luthuli dismissed EFF leader Julius Malema’s remarks that churches were not contributing to the economy.
“Many churches are registered as public benefit organisations, and thus duly pay relevant taxes. As churches have become more organised over the years, they have become places of employment where members of the church are employed therein, and many external service providers are engaged through service level agreements such as security services among others,” Luthuli said.
Luthuli argued that churches were ready to protect their members from the infectious virus, rebutting Malema’s warning that mass infections had occurred in a Bloemfontein church gathering in March, where Meshoe was himself infected with the coronavrius while in attendance.
“The situation is different today. We all know what to do to take safety precautions. We have regulations that must be complied with,” Luthuli said.
The biggest churches in the country, including the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) and the Nazareth Baptist Church, and leaders of other faiths have called on South Africans to stay at home and not convene religious gatherings.
Pambo said the calls of the ZCC and Shembe church bolstered the EFF’s call for people to stay at home and away from religious gatherings.