R8m cost to host a million Shembe followers for KZN holy pilgrimage

Three KwaZulu-Natal municipalities will contribute about R8m to host about a million Nazareth Baptist Church devotees on a three-day pilgrimage to the Khenana and Nhlangakazi holy mountains.

The pilgrimage, which started on Monday and runs until January 23, will see devotees journey from Durban up two mountains in Ndwedwe in the iLembe district municipality.

At a joint briefing in Durban on Tuesday, eThekwini metro acting mayor Nkosenhle Madlala, Ndwedwe local municipality mayor Simon Mfeka and iLembe district mayor Thobani Shandu outlined plans for the religious gathering.

Mfeka said the schedule for the four participating groups is:

• January 2-9: the eKuphakameni group will begin pilgrimage to Nhlangakazi holy mountain with resting stations at Mkhukhuze and Simamane;
• January 9-12: the Ginyezinye group will depart from their headquarters to Nhlangakazi;
• January 13-16: the Thembezinhle group will depart from their headquarters to Nhlangakazi; and
• January 2-23: the eBuhleni group will begin their pilgrimage to Khenana holy mountain with overnight stations at Esibukweni and Homisi.

Traditionally, all devotees of the church observed the pilgrimage together, but due to infighting which arose after the death of Vimbheni Thingolwenkosazane Shembe, the Mduduzi “Nyazilwezulu” Shembe-aligned eBuhleni group will go to the Khenana holy mountain.

The other three groups, which are aligned to Phinda Shembe — who assumed leadership of the church after the death of Vela Shembe in 2017 — will go to the Nhlangakazi holy mountain. Vela won the court battle over Mduduzi in 2016, though other members of the church have ignored that court ruling and still regard Mduduzi as the leader.

Madlala said eThekwini has supported the church over the years, mainly with health and safety protocols and “assessments of the state of infrastructure on the ground”.

This year, Madlala said the city will assist with four ambulances, five static water tanks, 10 waters tankers, 20,000 plastic waste bags, 100 waste collectors, 200 mobile ablution facilities, eight waste skips placed along the route and the deployment of metro police for traffic control.

The provincial government will provide mobile clinics.

In addition to the R4m it contributed to sanitation services and waste removal during last year’s pilgrimage, Madlala said eThekwini will spend R5.8m this year on basic refurbishment costs.

Shandu said the iLembe district municipality will contribute R1.4m and provide water and sanitation facilities at the mountains.

Four water tankers were sent on Monday and another four would be ready to be deployed “when the need arises”.

Mfeka said the municipality would contribute R1.5m and provide water at both mountains, road maintenance and fire and disaster units.

He said it was important to ensure the pilgrimage did not affect citizens who did not take part in it by obstructing traffic.

Madlala said these interventions were necessitated by public health considerations, given the large number of people that attend the pilgrimage.

“In addition to hygiene, the Nazareth Baptist Church is the largest congregation in the Southern Hemisphere with a membership of more than five-million. The pilgrimage also draws thousands of devotees from all corners of the country to the city which gives us a great platform to promote the city as a preferred destination for tourism and investment.”

He added that all three municipalities had to increase funding this year because of the damage to infrastructure in last year’s April floods.

Mfeka added: “This is the only place where such a pilgrimage occurs. It’s the only pilgrimage here that brings together more than a million people over one month. The pilgrimage is significant religiously, economically and for tourism.”

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