STRICT COVID-19 REGULATIONS FOR GOOD FRIDAY SERVICES - KING

MBABANE - While congregants celebrate the reopening of churches, His Majesty King Mswati III has warned that nothing has changed from last year’s Easter celebrations.

By this, the King meant, there would be no camps and large gatherings across the country. The King made the announcement of the celebration of the Easter services through the Minister of Home Affairs, Princess Lindiwe, in a press briefing held at the ministry’s headquarters. “I am directed by His Majesty King Mswati III to announce that Good Friday services will be held under strict COVID-19 regulations to prevent the spread of the virus,” said the minister.

She said the services would be conducted on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. “The services will be held from April 2 to April 4, from 10am each day. The services will be led by pastors from the three church bodies,” said the minister. The three church bodies are League of Churches, Conference of Churches and Council of Swaziland Churches. “The nation is advised to follow the services on all available electronic media broadcast platforms, national radio at Eswatini Broadcast and Information Services (EBIS) as well as Eswatini TV,” said the minister.
Also present at the press conference was the League of Churches President, Bishop Samson Hlatjwako, who requested pastors to have brief sermons in order to save time during the course of the services. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs released the guidelines for reopening of churches, stating that any church that would be found to have breached the regulations would be suspended for two weeks.

Normally, congregants set up camp near Lobamba, where they attend services starting on Friday. The congregants remain at the camp until Sunday, where they join Their Majesties in commemorating the resurrection of Christ. However, the congregants were deprived of this opportunity after the outbreak of the coronavirus last year.

Expectation

Asked about this year’s Easter expectation, Hlatjwako stated that nothing had changed from last year. He said camps and travels would not be allowed even this year. The bishop mentioned that the reopening of churches did not mean things had gone back to normal. “The reopening of churches in the country is different from that of South Africa. We are expected to stick to the regulations put in place by government. Congregants will be expected to maintain the 1.5-metre distance during the course of the two-hour worship at the National Church in Lobamba. It is for that reason there will be no camps and large gatherings,” he said. The bishop warned the public not to hesitate; but call the police if they observed any breach of the COVID-19 regulations. By breach of the regulation, Hlatjwako meant prolonged and night services.

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