Pastor Mboro on first service during lockdown: 'My own mother was not happy I had to leave her in the house'

08 June 2020 - 15:16 By Cebelihle Bhengu
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Pastor Paseka (Mboro) Motsoeneng of Incredible Happenings Ministries.
Pastor Paseka (Mboro) Motsoeneng of Incredible Happenings Ministries.
Image: Gallo Images / Sowetan / Veli Nhlapo

Incredible Happenings Ministries leader Paseka “Mboro” Motsoeneng says all safety precautions required by the government were followed during the church's first gathering in three months.

Mboro hosted exactly 50 congregants who all observed social distancing and wore masks.

“We disinfected the premises using sanitisers. That way, all surfaces were clean and congregants were protected from the virus. The number was exactly 50 and we maintained a distance of 2.3m from one another.”

There was a high demand for the service but the church followed strict restrictions by prohibiting members older than 60 from joining the gathering.

Speaking to TimesLIVE on Monday, Mboro said the elderly challenged these restrictions, saying they were already exposed to the risk of contracting Covid-19 in their homes, when they go to malls or to collect their pension.

“They argued that they stand in long queues [for pension collection] the whole day, they have children and grandchildren who leave for work and come back home, so they questioned why they were not allowed to gather with other believers and to pray for two hours? My own mother was not happy at all but I had to leave her in the house.”  

He said that some government restrictions were not fair. The church and alcohol traders, for example, have about the same demand, yet tighter restrictions are imposed on the church.

Before Sunday's service, the church collected data of all attendees which could be used for contact tracing should there be cases of Covid-19.

Mboro says while this is a helpful tool in combating the spread of the disease, data collection should happen in malls and other public spaces too.

“We registered people using their identity or passport numbers, but the very same people go to the malls where they are overcrowded, possibly spread or contract the coronavirus and yet there are no such registration systems in those spaces.

“People go to buy alcohol, get into taxis and go to their homes without being asked to register their details, yet the church must do that.”

Mboro fears that the church may be blamed for the spread of Covid-19 even though there is not enough reliable data confirming this. 


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