“You don’t do this to places of worship!”

Last night (25 April), there was a burglary at the premises housing South Springs Christian Fellowship Church and Daxina Christian Centre on Drakensberg Street in Lenasia South, Ext 4.

A church member who was part of the first people to arrive at the scene said: “There were about three of us who got here at 5am, we found the main gate open while the gate to the building closed, when we pushed the main gate, it just opened and we realised that there was a break-in.”

A 3KVA generator and sound equipment (mixers, amplifiers, speakers, cables, keyboards, guitars etc) estimated to be worth close to R200 000 were stolen.

South Springs Christian Fellowship Church’s pastor, Aaron Gurriah, a community activist who gives back through various initiatives like soup kitchens, bread drives and holiday clubs where more than 500 kids are given breakfast and lunch meals everyday for three days, was heartbroken.

He said: “We are really praying against these things, we pray every morning here and yesterday I went to distribute bread so I’m very disappointed. It took us years to acquire all the equipment which was stolen. We pray for a change, better policing and visibility in the entire community. The fact that these criminals broke in means there’s a market for such items, be it pawn shops or drug dealers.”

One of the congregants at Springs Christian fellowship said: “It’s very sad because our pastor goes all out for the community, we’ve suffered a major loss, I doubt we’ll recoup what we have lost. Personally, I hope these people get caught and are dealt with. We always pray that crime stops in our area.”

Senior Pastor at Daxina Christian Centre, Pastor Victor Govindasamy said he was disappointed with the reaction from SAPS who were called around 5am and only arrived after 8am.

The pastors appeal to anyone who might have information concerning the burglary to please report it to the police or contact: Pastor Victor on 064 186 2965 or Pastor Aaron on Pastor