Western Cape government meets with provincial religious leaders around Covid-19

The Western Cape Government has resolved to keep the Western Cape faith-based organisations and religious leaders informed of the Covid-19 government interventions and communication messages to fight this pandemic in our province.

Religious leaders and faith based organisations play an important role in society and we will establish a digital Covid-19 platform for spiritual leaders to access relevant information on the pandemic. We are also welcoming suggestions and ideas from our religious leaders in the fight of Covid-19 in the Western Cape.

The first meeting between the Western Cape Government and faith-based organisations took place via MS-Teams (digital platform) on Thursday evening, 30 April 2020.

An Inter-Ministerial Committee headed by Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Dr Ivan Meyer and assisted by Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Ms Anroux Marais and Minister of Social Development, Ms Sharna Fernandez will oversee the engagements with religious leaders.

Head of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Faith Based Organisations, Minister Ivan Meyer said, “Following our very important meeting on Thursday evening, significant contributions, inputs and suggestions were received from the religious groups over the weekend.

"Amongst others, these were inclusive of the regulations regarding funerals under the national lockdown, information on the voucher system, feeding schemes and its requirements and a discussion around the consideration of essential services in these unprecedented times. We look  forward to further engaging our faith-based organisations as they serve as crucial stakeholders in our provincial response to Covid-19.”     

A faith-based Secretariat has also been established to assist with our regular communication. Mr. Hadley Blake has been appointed as the Head of the Secretariat and can be reached on Hadley.Blake@westerncape.gov.za