By Buziwe Nocuze
The Sunday service at the JL Zwane Memorial Church in Gugulethu, Cape Town took an unfortunate turn as churchgoers found their vehicles had been vandalised and personal items stolen.
About five cars parked outside the church were targeted.
One church member, speaking anonymously, described the aftermath of the attack on their vehicles.
“The services were good. We connected with God and were looking forward to starting our week in high spirits. But then we saw that our cars had been attacked. We are still traumatised and shocked by this act of evil,” said the member.
The criminals smashed the windows with bricks.
“They broke windows to get to our belongings that included laptops and other items.”
In response to the incident, church leaders plan to improve security measures around the church.
Bishop Zamuxolo Mfihlo from the Apostolic Amen Church said he was worried about the broader issue of church attacks in South Africa.
“Our country is a mess and these church robberies and attacks on churches happen all over South Africa. Here in Cape Town, we even had an incident where church members were robbed and raped. We used to feel safe at church but now we know that anything can happen at any time,” said Mfihlo.
“People are having second thoughts about going to church because of the robberies at our churches. We have cases where some churches take their chairs home after every service because they don’t know if they’re going to be there on the second day.”
Resident Lindelwa Quluba advised church leaders to consider hiring security personnel outside their churches.
“Criminals no longer care or respect churches and this is escalating. The best thing is to hire security so that the congregants can attend church services without fearing for their vehicles outside.”
Western Cape SAPS spokesperson, Captain Frederick van Wyk, confirmed that a case of theft from a motor vehicle and malicious property damage had been registered for investigation.
“No arrests have been made and the investigation continues.”
Pictured above: Cape Town criminals have damaged the church members’ vehicles and stolen property while the vehicles were parked outside.
Image source: Buziwe Nocuze
