It could have been a day when many KTC residents found salvation. It could have been a day where many reconciled with their tormentors. Instead, bad organisation and lack of vision by those who hosted a prayer day against crime and social ills, leading to it failing dismally on Sunday December 2.
The event, planned by the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO), was scheduled to start
at 1.30pm. But church leaders
prayed over empty chairs, and when Vukani arrived at 2pm, the hall was still empty.
It wasn’t until 2.30pm that a few people, among them some of the organisers, started to trickle in.
Those who had arrived early, left in frustration as they waited for the prayer day to get started.
When Vukani spoke to some of those in the hall, they slammed the planning of the event.
“It is the end of the month. People have plans of their own. Some are in the meetings for their gooi-goois, others are busy with Christmas shopping. They should have thought about all those things and many others,” one said.
Inside the hall there were few residents, religious leaders and few representatives from various churches who were there because they believe the area was in dire need of divine intervention.
Organisers said the event was being held in response to violent crimes and youth that is tormenting the residents in the area. Organisers admitted too that they were disappointed with how things turned out.
Ntombi Ntleki, part of a team tasked with liaising with the media, told Vukani afterwards: “It was really disappointing to
see such a turn out. Our organiser failed us. We have not
met to discuss what went wrong and where we can develop. “But we will have a meeting
soon and you should know where we stand.” Local councillor Khaya Yozi apologised
on behalf of Sanco and
said they had chosen a bad day. “It was their wish to close
the year with a prayer but it
did not work out well. The prayer continued although the attendance was not great. I had to leave because I had another commitment somewhere else,” he said.
When Vukani left at 3pm, there seemed to be no indication that the event was ready to start.