Pretoria – The North West Provincial government, in partnership with the National Interfaith Council of South Africa (NICSA), is to host a joint prayer session at Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg on Sunday.
This is in response to the scourge of rape, violence in the mining sector, muti-killings, road fatalities, brutal killing of farmers and farmworkers and moral decay.
The prayer service is expected to attract thousands of believers from all faiths.
The theme adopted by the provincial chapter of NICSA for the prayer service, scheduled to start at 9am, is ‘Working together as people of faith in partnership with government towards service delivery, nation-building, peace, unity and moral regeneration in the North West Province’.
“We appreciate the partnership of NICSA and call on all our social partners, churches, faith based organisations, non-government organisations, men's organisations, youth and women’s organisations, and all our people to join us in prayer.
“Let us join hands in working towards building a moral and caring society, conscious of its obligations to uphold the core values of respect for human rights, human dignity and the enjoyment of human liberties guaranteed by our Constitution,” said North West Premier Thandi Modise.
Modise said fervent prayer and divine intervention should propel the province to reclaim the spirit of Ubuntu, social cohesion, which is underpinned by the existence of shared moral values, social practices and a strong sense of unity within structures and communities.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Cape MEC for Human Settlements, Safety and Liaison, Helen Sauls-August, has called for an urgent multi- sectoral response to incidents of rape, murder and attack of women, children and elderly in the province.
“Broader community involvement in fighting crime should surpass government initiated programmes and become a societal issue that brings people together to fight crime,” she said.
Two incidents of rape on elderly women were reported in the province this week, adding to the continued surge of rape and violence against women over the past months in the province.
A 78-year-old woman was raped on Sunday in Mqanduli and another 68-year-old woman was raped the following day in Mkhathini.
“We are alarmed at the rate of these sporadic attacks and violation of women in the province. Everybody … should help us protect women and children, particularly the elderly in the province.
“We call upon all relatives, children and grandchildren of elderly people not to leave them unattended or alone in their homes because these perpetrators pounce on the elderly when they are alone,” she said.
She called for civil society, youth formations, churches and traditional leaders to assist police in protecting women, children and the elderly by providing much needed information to police for quick arrests of the suspects and prevention of these attacks. – SAnews.gov.za
