More than 800 couples walk down the aisle on Easter Sunday in mass wedding

The International Pentecostal Holiness Church conducts mass nupitals three times a year

At least 800 couples walked down the aisle on Easter Sunday in one of the biggest mass wedding ceremonies in South Africa.

The International Pentecostal Holiness Church conducts mass nuptials three times a year, including Easter, in December, and during the church’s 1962 foundation celebrations in September.

The ceremony took place at the International Pentecostal Holiness Church’s Jerusalem congregation, 100km (62 miles) north of Johannesburg.

The church blesses polygamous unions, which are common in some African communities, and says are authorised by the Bible, reported Reuters.

With a membership of over three million, the church is one of the largest congregations in the country.

At the ceremony on Sunday current wives wore colourful attire, while first-time brides wore traditional white dresses.

“It’s a special day, I am very happy. I really, really appreciate this moment of being part of the Mahluku family. It’s a great feeling,” Lebogile Mamatela, 38, a government employee who became the second wife to the father of her child was quoted as saying.

Her new husband, Roto Mahluku, 40, joined the church and has three children with his first wife Ditopa Mahluku, who he married 16 years ago.

Mr Mahluku joined the church in 1993.

According to Ms Mahluku her husband’s second marriage was “fulfilling what God has created for us, fulfilling the scripture that says women will be leaning towards one man”.

Sunday’s ceremony was held under tight security with armed guards and metal detectors being used to screen the congregation.

The celebration comes amid a leadership crisis that has embroiled the church.

The succession battle between three brothers began after the death in 2016 of the church’s leader, Glayton Modise.

According to local media reports a shoot-out took place at the church in 2018, two years after Modise’s death.

In 2020 five people died during a siege at another church of the congregation amid a feud between different factions.

A court last year dismissed the case against the 42 accused in the case.

Additional reporting by agencies