Bishop Demands Compensation For Lost Revenue From Tithes And Offerings During Lockdown
by Tim. E. NdoroBishop Demands Compensation For Lost Revenue
A South African bishop has demanded compensation from the government for revenue lost during the national lockdown when people were prohibited from attending religious services.
The Sunday Times reports that the Leader of God’s Church Must Rise, Bishop Bheki Ngcobo, said the move by the government to recognise churches as essential services only on lockdown level 3 has had dire financial consequences on the congregations.
Ngcobo said that the government should compensate churches for the weeks they were forced to shut their doors and did not receive income in the form of tithes and offerings.
Speaking to Bongani Bingwa in an interview on 702 on Wednesday 27 May, Ngcobo said
The controversial Bishop who was once arrested and fined R1500 for breaching lockdown regulations said that President Cyril Ramaphosa should have categorised churches and places of worship as essential services much earlier.
On Tuesday night, President Ramaphosa announced that places of worship provide essential services and would, therefore, be opened when the country moved to lockdown level 3 on June 1. When making the announcement, Ramaphosa said services rendered by religious leaders, including spiritual counselling to individual congregants at their homes, would also fall under the essential service category.
However, Ngcobo lamented the fact that churches and places of worship were have been restricted to only 50 congregants at any given time. Ramaphosa said one of the requirements when churches opened was for them to host a maximum of 50 people.
Ngcobo, added that the coronavirus was more than just a medical challenge.
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