‘Take your church somewhere else’ – residents

POLOKWANE – Westenburg residents in Tom Swartz Street say the Johane Masowe, a Zimbabwean church, must go.

The church’s services are held in the veld on the Matlala Road next to Westenburg.

A resident who lives opposite the church said they were deprived of sleep by the church and their loud music.

“We cannot sleep late on a Sunday morning or take an afternoon nap, because they have a band, and the music is very loud.

“They start early in the morning and continue until late afternoon.

“We tried chasing them away, but the churchgoers say they pay the councillor a fee for them to have their church there, and they are not going anywhere,” the resident explained.

According to the residents the congregation was growing every Sunday, and they feared that soon nothing would be done to remove these people from the property, which allegedly belonged to the Polokwane Municipality.

The residents reported the matter to the ward councillor, Dorcas Madikoto, but they said nothing had been done to address the matter.

Madikoto confirmed that she was aware of the matter and denied the allegations that she was being paid by the church for them to use the property.

“No money is being paid to me. The area where these people are having their church does not fall under my ward.

“I am ward councillor for ward 19 and that area falls under ward 8, but after residents brought this complaint to me, I reported the matter several times to the municipal community services, for these people to be removed.

“I will follow up with the community services department and find out how far they are with this,” Madikoto said.

Municipal spokesperson, Tidimalo Chuene could not give comment on the matter at the time of going to print.