Stop calling beloved Alex Gomorrah, appeals Pastor Tshepo Sello
ALEXANDRA – Calling Alex Gomorrah promotes and equates the township with the corruption and notoriety of that biblical city, says Pastor Tshepo Sello.
Pastor Tshepo Sello of St Messiah Ministries has appealed to some community members in Alexandra who continue to call the township Gomorrah to ‘stop forthwith’ as this tended to perpetuate the social ills currently experienced.
He said the crime and other social ills afflicting the township have turned it into one of the most feared townships in South Africa much like the city of Gomorrah in the Bible that was destroyed due to its sinful notoriety.
“Is this what we want for Alexandra? Do we want to build a better Alex or we want it destroyed as happened to the old city of Gomorrah in the Bible? I urge all those who still continue to call the township Gomorrah to stop forthwith,” said Sello during a prayer meeting at Alexandra Police Station on 16 April.
Gomorrah was infamously known for its prostitution and other corrupt and socially deviant practices. “Referring to Alex as Gomorrah has come to symbolise our acceptance of that kind of notoriety as it happened back then in that city, and I don’t think this is what we want to associate ourselves with within Alexandra.
“When we continue to call our beloved Alexandra Gomorrah, it means we are promoting the corruption and the notoriety that used to be seen in Gomorrah, and hence life is such a living hell for the people of Alexandra.”
Station Commander Brigadier Lindiwe Magudulela said police officers were trying everything to minimise crime in the township and sometimes they were the ones who ended up leaving the crime scene in a body bag.
“Last month, we lost Sergeant Moshela Mokgobo who was fatally shot near the Pan Africa Mall, leaving us to wonder as to whether our township is actually cursed. We organised this prayer session as we now strongly believe it is indeed cursed and we need to seek divine intervention to stop all this,” Magudulela added.
Community Policing Forum chairperson, former councilor Chris Mabunda, believed the community of Alexandra needed a process of spiritual healing before the township became like Gomorrah and gets destroyed by sulfur and fire.
