ANC MPs SHOCKED BY MERCILESS DESTRUCTION OF CHURCHES IN KHAYELITSHA
A team of 20 African National Congress Members of Parliament this morning visited Khayelitsha Township on a fact-finding tour of several sites where temporary structures of black churches and mosques have been demolished by the City of Cape Town local government.
The visit follows a meeting between the ANC Chief Whip, Dr Mathole Motshekga, and church leaders from various African townships in Cape Town, who complained that structures that have served as sacred places of worship for thousands of community members have been demolished.
Churches and mosques that have been given permission to conduct their services in public buildings such as community halls and schools have also been shut.
According to the religious leaders, the former Mayor of Cape Town Helen Zille made a commitment to them ahead of the 2009 elections that no church or mosque structure will be demolished until the municipal government had provided alternative land.
However, hardly a year after the installation of both the provincial and the local government, the demolition of churches, eviction of worshippers and the confiscation of facilities in mosques and churches began. While in the period ahead of the elections the City used to peacefully discuss the challenges faced by these churches and mosques through a number of workshops and formal meetings, poor worshippers are now being manhandled, evicted and their properties worth thousands of rands made from hard earned tithes and offerings are being brought down.
As ANC MPs were led around various locations in Khayelitsha this morning, armed security guards were at work bringing down more structures. In Harare section, the MPs were met by shaken and close-to-tears Muslim leaders whose mosque has just been demolished.
Pastor Nthabiseng Khunou, who led the ANC team on behalf of the Chief Whip said: "The treatment that these people of God have experienced here is senseless and barbaric. How do you justify demolishing mosques and churches which serve so many poor community members ravaged by drug abuse, gangsterism, HIV and Aids and other social ills? These are places where these people go for hope, comfort and spiritual guidance. This kind of harassment is deeply disturbing and shocking. How do you justify demolishing a holy place of worship and yet you leave a shebeen next door? This is exactly what we have seen here and it is shocking."
One of the churches leaders, Reverent Xola Skosana also had strong views about the: "We are law-abiding citizens. We are promoting good values in this community, and yet we are treated like criminals. This is nothing but ethnic cleansing."
MP Khunou urged Church as well as Muslim leaders to draft a detailed report on the history of this matter so that the Parliamentary Caucus could take the matter forward through appropriate structures.
Statement issued by The Office of the ANC Chief Whip, ANC Parliamentary Caucus, March 9 2010
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