Induna and the church is on a mission to change a negative narrative about hostel residents
JEPPESTOWN – 'We came here not to point fingers at you but to work with you in finding solutions.'
Scores of people from different hostels in the inner city of Johannesburg led by Izinduna converged at George Goch Hostel to participate in a special prayer for peace in the area.
Jeppestown and George Goch areas were the most affected areas of the recent xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals that claimed more than 10 lives of people, some of which were South African citizens. Thousands of foreigners fled the country after their businesses were torched and looted.
Hostel residents were blamed for the violence that brought the City of Johannesburg CBD to a standstill and left businesses counting losses in September this year.
Izinduna from different hostels and the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God recently hosted a prayer for peace and stability in the area.
Prayer bishop Marcello Pires of the Universal Church told the attendees that one of the responsibilities of the church was to pray for peace in the land without pointing fingers. “We came here not to point fingers at you but to work with you in finding solutions [to the problems] that you are facing as hostel communities. We want to join hands with you prayer and change the negative narrative about you,” Pires said.
“We didn’t come here to talk to you about religion but to ask God to intervene in all challenges you are facing. Induna has welcomed us as the church with warm hands and we have agreed to work together with you to pursue peace in the area.”
A senior leader in George Goch Hostel Skhuphe Makhathini said they were delighted to work with the church to fight the scourge of violence in the area.
“It’s the first time in the history that someone come here with respect and asked to work with us in fighting the scourge of violence in the hostels. Everyone portrays us as criminals and lawlessness people. They accuse us of every wrongdoing without even talking to us. We will work with the church to cement our working relationship in pursuit of the crime-free zone,” Makhathini said.
Makhathini added that the picture that has been painted about hostel residents and Zulu-speaking people that they were the root cause of xenophobic attacks were unfounded and misleading with an aim of tarnishing their reputation.
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