DEMOLITION OF CHURCH STRUCTURES IN THE WESTERN CAPE TOWNSHIPS
The Office of the ANC Chief Whip is gravely concerned by the alleged repulsive treatment of churches in Cape Town's African townships by the Cape Town municipality and the Western Cape provincial government.
It was brought to the attention of the Chief Whip of the Majority Party Dr. Mathole Motshekga by leaders of various churches that the municipal government has been demolishing structures of churches and evicting them from schools and community halls, which have served as their temporary places of worship.
Despite an agreement made just before the elections last year between the leaders of these churches, organized under the Western Cape Christian Ministers Forum (WCCMF), and the then Mayor Helen Zille that the onslaught against the churches will be halted until alternative settlement has been identified, temporary structures and furniture had continued to be demolished, damaged and confiscated.
This ceaseless harassment of churches, which serves as spiritual fountain and moral compass for many communities residing in these African townships in Cape Town, is deeply disturbing.
The City and the provincial government should be partnering with religious communities, particularly in Black communities, in the fight against the social ills confronting our nation such as poverty, crime, drug abuse and HIV/Aids, rather than waging an onslaught against them. Churches must be accorded due respect and recognition for the huge role they play in the transformation of our society.
Both provincial and local governments in the province must immediately stop with this senseless harassment of sacred places of worship and fulfill the commitment they made to these churches before the elections in 2009. The City of Cape Town, in particular, must provide these churches with alternative land.
A team of ANC Members of Parliament will on Tuesday, 9 March, visit the areas where these demolitions and evictions have taken place and also meet with the WCCMF. The team, which will be led by Chief Whip Dr Motshekga, will arrive in Khayelitsha at 8h30.
Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, ANC Parliamentary Caucus, March 8 2010
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