Fighting road accidents through prayer
Women gathered at Duduza's Monti Motloung Community Hall last Thursday to pray for road accidents.
The prayer day was attended by women from different churches, traditional healers, members of the community, local police officers, road traffic infringement agency employees and the MEC for Infrastructure Development, Nandi Mayathula-Khoza.
Giving a welcoming address, Brigadier Louise Marinda Droskie thanked the women who realised the need to pray for the safety of the road users in this country.
She said she believes that prayer will not only fight against road accidents but will also give strength to the police to fight against crime.
Reverend Moleboheng Modupe introduced the purpose of the day.
She said the prayer day was aimed at praying for the decrease in road accidents that have robbed many of their lives and family members. She said many orphans lost their parents in road accidents, some of which were caused by reckless drivers.
Modupe encouraged women to continue praying for the challenges such as HIV/Aids and poverty faced by the citizens of this country.
Giving her message of support, MEC Mayathula-Khoza applauded the women who made the prayer day possible.
“You did not wait for the government but as women who believe in God you saw no other way but to ask God to intervene and help decrease the road accidents,” said Khoza.
She said the women have the power to bring change in their communities.
“If the women of 1956 fought and won the fight, I believe that in today’s women there is a power invested in them to fight against all the challenges faced by our country,” said Khoza.
Road accident victim, Thabo Bulani who was left disabled by the accident, told his story.
Bulani was injured in a car accident in 1995 and has since been dependent on a wheelchair to move from one place to another.
He explained that since his spinal cord injury his life has become expensive.
“It is a challenge to take a taxi to town as I need someone to help me get inside, something that forces to me to hire a car to take me to wherever that I need to go,” said Bulani.
He said even in the health care centres some of the employees do not understand the life of a man in a wheelchair.
He revealed that some of the staff members at the public institutions do not care about the way that they treat people living with disabilities.
