This as Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize, on Tuesday announced the number of coronavirus cases has leaped to 554, eighteen of which are in the Free State. From 9 - 11 March, the church in question - the Divine Restoration Ministries -  hosted an event named the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast which was attended by five internationals from Israel, the United States of America (USA), and France. All five internationals later tested positive for COVID-19, and were placed under quarantine at a Woodlands hotel, along with staff.  However, at that point it was already too late, the internationals had engaged with an estimated 600 guests during the event which included well-known writer and evangelist, Angus Buchan, and leader of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Kenneth Meshoe – the latter of whom attended a parliament sitting mere days later, where President Cyril Ramaphosa was present.  

Following the revelation by the North West government on Tuesday that the 21-year-old female from Bloemhof who tested positive for the virus in the province, had attended the event at the Divine Restoration Ministries, the church decided to provide clarity on the sequence of events as reported by the media.

Screened upon arrival

The church stresses the international guests were reportedly asymptomatic on their arrival in South Africa and were screened for signs of the virus at the airport.

To host or not to host

Collectively, church leadership has distanced themselves from the organisation of the event, stating they merely hosted it. The breakfast “was organised by a group of South African people, together with the leaders of the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast movement based in Israel”.  The head of the church is said to be one of the co-chairs of the committee in SA and merely offered to host. Thus reiterating they were not involved in the planning. They do confirm that three of the guests engaged with attendees of the event during that period.

The French businessman

The Bloemfontein church reveals on 11 March it hosted a dinner for guests which was attended by a man from France who was initially in the country for a business matter. There is no indication as to why this man ended up having dinner with the church guests nor where this encounter between the church guests and the businessman took place. The fifth international confirmed to have the coronavirus in Bloemfontein, is the wife of one of the church guests. She reportedly arrived in the country on 13 March “to join her husband for extra days”. On Sunday, March 15, all five of them attended the 9 am church service. The Divine Restoration Centre stresses they did not interact with guests on this day, entering the venue once congregants were seated and exiting before the service was done.

According to the church, close to 400 congregants and attendees of the event have been screened over Saturday and Sunday thus far. Of this number, a total of 39 presented symptoms and underwent testing. This is despite Mkhize revealing on Tuesday that they are having trouble tracing all attendees of the event.

OFM News/Lucky Nkuyane and Olebogeng Motse