On the morning of Friday June 16, Youth Day, police, pastors, Imams, traditional leaders and residents gathered at the JL Zwane Church in Gugulethu to pray for spiritual healing in the city but especially in Gugulethu.
The different stakeholders came together to pray in the wake of the recent violent crimes, including the robbery of the Gugulethu Community Health Clinic last Tuesday (“Services halted at Gugs health facility after robbery”, Vukani, June 20) .
The organisers, the Gugulethu Spiritual Crime Prevention, also prayed for first responders; that is police, neighbourhood watches and community leaders.
At the event, Gugulethu police station commander, Nokuthula Pete, said her station had seen an unusual spike in crime. In response she had met with the community and stakeholders who decided on a prayerful response.
“Gugulethu is dealing with increased violent crimes; extortion and other unusual crimes that have put the community and its police on edge. We have come together today to pray and to try to put a stop to these crimes. People feel unsafe. Extortion is rife and it affects all of us whether you are in business or an ordinary citizen. We came as these different stakeholders to say it is enough. As police we are saying, crime affects us all so we need to work together. We all know that police can’t defeat crime alone,” said Brigadier Pete.
She added that she was grateful to see people coming from as far as Langa and Nyanga to support them. She said it was clear that crime was not only affecting Gugulethu but everyone.
“The weather is not so great because it has been pouring but people decided to come to support us. They are here with us to say, ‘it is enough’. This is evidence that we are all affected by the crime that in our areas. We are so grateful to get such support from our neighbours,” she said.
Reverend Monica Douglas, who was also the programme director, prayed for protection for all people from the evils of crime and violence. She said they came together because there was blood all over the streets of Gugulethu.
“People have been asking if we are not scared to hold this prayer meeting. My response to them was that, we have to die for this, let it be. We can’t sit and watch while there is blood all over the streets of Gugulethu,” she said.
Reverend Dumisani Qwebe prayed especially for life-changing conversion for criminals and an end to violence. He said change needed to start with parents. He condemned crime, calling it a “fever”.
“Crime is contagious like a fever. It will start in Nyanga and go on to Gugulethu and other areas. That is why we need to nip it in the bud. But change needs to start with us. We need to be good parents to our children. That will help us in the fight against crime,” he said
Reverend Qwebe prayed to God to remove evil from criminals’ hearts and fill them it with goodness and love instead. He said it is not easy but with the church’s intervention, it is possible.
“If churches are quiet, all hell will break loose. We pray that the criminals may see the goodness of God and stop terrorising communities,” he concluded.
Gugulethu facility manager Siviwe Menziwa, who attended the meeting, told the experience of the security guards who were on duty when the facility was robbed. He said the robbers tried to return the following day but were quickly seen and stopped. He called on the community and neighbourhood watches to help prevent targeted crimes at the facility.