A bride and a groom wait during the Easter Sunday mass wedding ceremony, organised by the International Pentecostal Holiness Church Jerusalem City (IPHC), with more than 800 couples taking part, in Kgabalatsane in the North-West province, South Africa, April 9, 2023. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

More than 800 couples walked down the aisle on Easter Sunday in one of the biggest mass wedding ceremonies in South Africa since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Reuters.

The polygamous unions was reportedly blessed by the International Pentecost Holiness Church.

Government employee Lebogile Mamatela, 38, who became the second wife to the father of her child on Sunday, told Reuters after the ceremony that it is 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.”

Her new husband, 40-year-old Roto Mahluku joined the church in 1993 and married his first wife Ditopa Mahluku, whom they have three children, 16 years ago.

Ditopa, 37, said 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”.

Current wives wore colourful attire to the ceremony at the International Pentecost Holiness Church’s Jerusalem congregation, 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Johannesburg.