“The church is alive, active and participatory”, says Wentworth faith leaders

THE church can play a vital role in supporting and filling the cracks of a damaged community afflicted by crime, hunger, troubled youth and the recent intensity caused Covid-19.

Speaking to the SUN, the church leaders of Wentworth who form part of the CBCO (Community Building Credible Organisation) together with the South Durban Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) shared issues and challenges that they currently face amidst the pandemic.

The past three months have posed a tremendous test on Wentworth faith leaders and church organisations to continue to be the ministers of God’s ministry while dealing with the challenge of Covid-19 social distancing regulations. Frs. Sithabiso Sithole and Mhlanganisi Dlamini of Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) shared that it is important for churches not to downplay the very real dangers of Covid-19 and should use their position to encourage the wearing of masks, the use of sanitiser and abiding by lockdown regulations. “It is important for the church to continue engaging with the scientific community,” they said.

Committed to the divine purpose they have been called to, fathers, pastors and bishops have continued rallying to provide key support services for their community and play their part in cushioning the social and economic impact of the pandemic.

Church leaders, who have had to quickly embrace new technology to remain in contact with their congregants, have been providing critical services such as counselling, food parcel distributions, soup kitchens and online-based communication. All the churches that have resumed their worship services assure that they are Covid-19 compliant and have put in place strict measures to ensure that they do not play a part in the spread of the virus.

Another crucial way in which they have these leaders have rallied together, is towards another pandemic that is prevalent in the community; crime. Pastor Donovan Anderson of Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) Church said that crime has not subsided during the lockdown.

“This is putting more pressure on our police department because they have to now guard the community in terms of Covid-19 regulations on top of dealing with local criminals. Every second day there is shootings going on and its becoming a norm here in Wentworth,” said a concerned Anderson who is also the local CPF chairperson. Pastor Andre Baily said despite the lockdown, the scourge of drugs, turf wars and illegal firearms continue to plague Wentworth, and even lead to the loss of lives.

The ministry leaders have a close relationship with SAPS, and in efforts to address criminal activities, together they have established a task force, which comprises of experienced hand-picked police officers from SAPS to solely focus on Wentworth.

“Violence and the movement of illegal firearms as well as limited police resources, remain a big challenge in the community. On weekends a concerted effort is done by myself to call for additional support towards patrolling, crime prevention and assistance in cases which are reported that emanate from the violence. These cases are prioritised in order to do a speedy investigation. We also get the arrests done as quick as possible. When the accused appear in court, we do everything in our power and ability to object bail to try and keep them behind bars because we feel it will assist in the reduction of crime and violence.

“The specialised task team has been operating since 20 March and their commander has taken a number of the Wentworth police cases that have been reported, which they are currently investigating in order to secure warrants of arrest and hopefully successful prosecutions. A main issue we face in Wentworth is community cooperation. Witnesses refuse to provide statements or provide general or provide inaccurate information which leads us nowhere,” said Wentworth Saps station commander, Willem van Zyl. He added that out of 17 priority crimes, murder, business burglary and shop lifting had increased over the last three months.

“The church is alive, active and participatory. It important for the broader public to be aware of the host of initiatives that the church is involved in. People need to know that churches are available to them during this critical time of need. We are dealing with a deadly pandemic that is wiping our people all over the world with no exception. So we’re experiencing this problem, but we are also saying that we are with those families and we want them to understand that the church leaders and the church will always be there and stand together with communities,” said Desmond D’sa, coordinator of SDCEA.

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