Minister Bheki Cele warned on Sunday that police had 'no choice but to enforce the law' if the lockdown regulations were flouted for religious gatherings.
Police have arrested 17 people for contravening the lockdown regulations after they were found at a prayer facility in Pretoria West.Minister Bheki Cele warned on Sunday that police had “no choice but to enforce the law” if the lockdown regulations were flouted for religious gatherings.The incident on Friday was captured on video and has since gone viral on social media.“What’s going on here,” one officer asked?” All of you down,” another officer ordered.
Cele condemned the incident and urged religious leaders to work with the police in discouraging religious gatherings in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus. “This global pandemic demands that we all make huge sacrifices, making drastic adjustments to the way we live under normal circumstances. So, the sooner we accept that these are abnormal times, the closer we can all get to possible solutions towards eradicating the coronavirus once and for all,” he said.
“Such images are distressing to Muslims who consider prayer places as sacred and entered upon only without shoes.”
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