Northern areas peace prayers
Start with spiritual transformation – Jordaan
WORSHIP and prayer were the order of the day for members of the northern areas community yesterday.
Religious leaders of different faiths from around Nelson Mandela Bay convened at the Helenvale Resource Centre in Gelvandale to pray for divine intervention in the fight against crime.
The prayer meeting, hosted by the religious subcommittee of the ANC’s regional task team, saw about 250 members of the Helenvale and Gelvandale community support the initiative.
Guests included mayor Danny Jordaan, deputy mayor Bicks Ndoni, chief whip Litho Suka and other members of the newly appointed mayoral committee.
Regional leaders of the ANC Youth League as well as the ANC Women’s League also attended the gathering.
Punted as a time for residents to stand together and pray for those involved in criminal activities and to bolster the community in their fight against gangster- ism, violence against women and children, as well as drug and alcohol abuse, a political agenda soon emerged.
Speaking at the event, convener of the religious subcommittee the Rev Zola Moses claimed praying for the ANC would bring peace and stability to Helenvale and the northern areas.
“We are praying for the metro, the leadership [of the metro], the ANC and the appointed leaders of the regional task team.
“God must bear witness to our resolve to mend the metro,” Moses said.
He told the congregation the gathering of religious and political leaders was there to “fix the metro and tell the people of the northern areas that we are here for you”.
According to Moses, the ANC should be the only party people should consider voting for in the upcoming elections, because it would bring harmony to the affected areas.
He also took the opportunity to attack opposition parties by claiming the DA leadership and policies in the Western Cape were reminiscent of apartheid, and called the EFF a sinking ship.
“The EFF is playing with people’s feelings to gain sympathy and votes,” he said.
After several prayers were conducted, Jordaan addressed the crowd to discuss issues pertinent to the community.
“The little we can do is address these issues to have peace and stability in the area,” he said.
The mayor said although there were high rates of unemployment and poverty in the Helenvale area, members of the community were willing to wait for changes as long as there was peace in the area.
“Although the challenge is huge, we will meet again with religious leaders for peace in the Helenvale and northern areas.
“We need to start with spiritual transformation before we can tackle economic transformation,” Jordaan said.
‘ God must bear witness to our resolve to mend the metro