The danger of overflowing churches during Easter
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has expressed
its concern over churches allowing in too many people for Easter services.
This after the roof of the Pentacostal Church outside Empangeni collapsed during a Passover service on Thursday night, leading to the deaths of 13 congregants.
According to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) department of Co-operative Governance, a preliminary report found that the roof couldn’t withstand the hard and persistent rain.
SACC’s Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana says not all churches have the means and the capacity to construct substantial buildings.
“It actually is a big problem also because in many cases, there are people who come only and mainly during this time,” says Mpumlwana.
He adds they also see churches in especially poor communities coming together for Easter, amalgamating all their members under one roof.
Mpumlwana has asked churches around the country to pay for those killed during the service.
Meanwhile, a high-level delegation from the KZN government has been visiting the families on Friday morning, while disaster management teams were deployed to the site of the roof collapse.