By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will join Zion Christian Church (ZCC) pilgrims for the Easter Sunday church service at the St Engenas.
Millions of ZCC pilgrims descended to Moria outside Polokwane in Limpopo at the weekend for the annual Easter pilgrimage. St Engenas is one of the two ZCC churches.
The gathering is taking place for the first time in three years, after it was paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Both the ZCC and St. Engenas churches closed their headquarters and branches across the country to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
The star symbolized ZCC headquarters remains closed.
The churches are led by brothers, Joseph and Edward Lekganyane.
Before the Covid-19 outbreak, both ZCC churches drew millions of worshippers during the Easter holy week to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in Moria.
Ramaphosa’s visit to the province comes against the backdrop of tensions involving provincial ANC chairperson Stanley Mathabatha, who emerged from the woodwork and attended his first public gathering in weeks.
Two weeks ago, the ANC national working committee (NWC) was expected to oversee regional general councils in the province followed by a face-to-face meeting with Mathabatha and his PEC.
The meeting was later cancelled because it clashed with another meeting.
Some ANC members in Limpopo had expected the NWC meeting with the PEC to mark the beginning of the end of Mathabatha’s tenure as premier following his fallout with Ramaphosa over his support for Zweli Mkhize’s failed bid for the governing party’s presidency at the Nasrec conference in December.
Mathabatha’s U-turn, which was rejected by a number of regions in the province, created internal tensions among the ANC’s top five in Limpopo and regional leaders.
Since then, the ANC chairperson has encountered opposition from his own party members.
In February, a rowdy crowd booed him during the belated celebrations of both the 111th ANC birthday and the January 8 Statement at Ga-Masemola Stadium in Sekhukhune, resulting in him not addressing public meetings for weeks.