Moria trip has captivated Sikhweni for 35 years
Lively singing by pilgrims uplifts him
Cheerful singing of hymns in the bus helps 60-year-old Ratshilumela Sikhweni cope with hectic traffic as he transports Zion Christian Church (ZCC) members to their annual pilgrimage at Moria, 40km east of Polokwane.
Every year thousands of ZCC members from all over southern Africa make their way to the church’s headquarters for Easter celebrations.
For Sikhweni, a bus driver for Great North Transport, the weight of ensuring that pilgrims make a safe journey to and from Moria has rested on his shoulders for the past 35 years. His daily job is to ferry commuters from Seshego township to work in Polokwane.
For the first six years of his career with GNT Sikhweni transported churchgoers from Namakgale township in Phalaborwa to Moria.
He described how the road can get chaotic with vehicles lining up bumper to bumper from Polokwane right up to the gates of the church.
“You will only find relief once you have finally parked inside the yard,” he said.
But years of experience have taught him important lessons about staying safe during such a hectic time.
“My strategy is to observe the rules of the road at all times. During the Easter season many cars are on the road, you must be alert so that your passengers are safe.”
Sikhweni said long distance drivers travelling from as far as Cape Town for example must try and take breaks during the journey to avoid accidents due to fatigue.
“Explain to your passengers that you need a break. If you insist on driving while tired you will cause accidents. We must be patient and stop trying to overtake other vehicles.”
Although Sikhweni is not a Christian – he says he believes in African traditional religion – he enjoys the singing. He also owns a few gospel albums.
This year he is likely to skip the ride to Moria because of the ongoing national strike by workers in the bus transportation sector.
Spokesman for Great North Transport, Patrick Monkoe, said last year their company had over 400 busses booked to take congregants to Moria.
However, they had not finalised this year’s bookings.
Spokesman at the provincial transport department Joshua Kwapa said authorities would aim for a 50% reduction of road fatalities after a 20% reduction was achieved last year, as compared to 2015.
“The department, through its law enforcement operations, will apply a no mercy approach to traffic law violators,” Kwapa said.
He said traffic police vehicles would be visible every 40km on the N1 from Maubane offramp, the southern provincial border with Gauteng, to Beitbridge, the international border with Zimbabwe.
Kwapa said the intervals for police vehicles on the R71 – from Polokwane to Moria – would be every 10km. He said the department had formed a partnership with interfaith organisations representing churches in the province.
“Through this organisation the department hopes that as men and women of cloth shall be conducting sermons they will at the same time deliver messages of road safety to their congregants,” Kwapa said.