Minister Bheki Cele warned on Sunday that police had “no choice but to enforce the law” if the lockdown regulations were flouted for religious gatherings.
He was speaking after the arrest of congregants during Muslim prayer gatherings.
Since the start of the long weekend, police have arrested 41 congregants at two separate religious gatherings in Pretoria and Mpumalanga, national police spokesperson Brig Vishnu Naidoo said on Sunday.
One of the incidents, in Mpumalanga on Saturday, was captured on video and has since gone viral on social media.
The clip showed police walking into what appeared to be a mosque where shoes had been left outside.
“What’s going on here,” one officer asked?” All of you down,” another officer ordered.
“You think your president is crazy, nê,” says one of the police officers.