Thousands of Shembe church members march in Durban CBD [Watch]
More than six thousand Nazareth Baptist Church members arrived to march through the Durban CBD in support of their leader on Tuesday.
Thousands of members of the Nazareth Baptist Church (Shembe Church) marched in contravention of lockdown regulations, albeit peacefully, to the Durban City Hall on Tuesday apparently in support of one of its leaders who recently lost a succession battle in court.
More than 6000 church members, dressed in the Shembe church’s traditional white religious garments, mostly wearing masks, marched from King Dinizulu Park on the Berea to the City Hall where they handed over a memorandum to a city official and an official from the office of the KwaZulu-Natal Premier. The marchers played musical instruments as they peacefully made their way to the steps of the city hall and carried placards in support of the church leader “Unyazi” who they referred to as their “forever messiah”.
Police warned motorists to stay away from the Durban CBD area to avoid the congestion.
Watch a video of the march here:
Metro Police spokesperson Parboo Sewpersad said that the Nazareth Baptist Church had applied for permission to hold the march and it had been approved.
“The march was peaceful and they are now dispersing in a peaceful manner. There is congestion around the city and we are advising motorists to stay away from Pixely Kaseme Street (former West Street) for the next one and a half hours,” Sewpersad said.
Sewpersad referred questions about whether there had been any arrests for the violation of lockdown rules to the SAPS. According to the current adjusted Alert Level 2 lockdown rules, outdoor gatherings are limited to 500 people, while indoor gatherings may not exceed 250 people.
SAPS spokesperson Thembeka Mbhele said th marchers had arrived at the city hall to hand over the memorandum and no incidents had been reported during the event.
Mduduzi Shembe, the charismatic leader of the eBuhleni faction of the Shembe Church, affectionately know to his fellows as “Unyazi” (lightning) lost a Constitutional Court battle in June when the court ruled that he is not the rightful leader of the church. Shembe lost his leadership position and his seat as the sole trustee of the multi-million rand Shembe estate.
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