Hence, police saw it fit to thank and honour religious leaders in a ceremony held at the Charles Wesley Methodist Church, in Daveyton, on September 11.
The thanksgiving ceremony started with a march led by police drillers from the Daveyton Mall to the church.
Hymns and praise songs marked the entire event.
Police chaplain Mesh Makola, who is credited with initiating the religious forum, said the forum came about following a request from the cluster commander, Brig Vuyokazi Ndebele, who has been suspended.
Makola added that a lot of things were happening in the area at the time and that there was just too much tension in communities.
“It was just after the taxi driver dragging incident; Satanism was also rife and there were too many drugs on the streets, as well,” he explained.
The brigadier asked them to gather pastors, and that’s when they started with chains of prayers, with the first being held at the Benoni Town Hall and the next at the Sinaba Stadium, in Daveyton.
“Our main tasks included praying for a decrease in all crime and to improve the image of the police and their relationship with their communities.
“In April, our cluster was mentioned as one of the best performing clusters in Gauteng when it comes to fighting crime and we believe that God gave us victory in the name of Jesus Christ,” said Makola.
He urged the pastors to continue praying for the protection of the men and women in blue, the nyaope addicts and all the students.
At the end of the gathering, a total of 45 pastors were awarded Certificates of Honour — given only to those who have performed extremely well in the SAPS.
Police spokesman Capt Alfred Nakana said the religious leaders have been helping the police to fight crime since last year, hence they saw it fit to thank them.
