Phase one of a first-of-its-kind project, aimed at creating safer and healthier places of worship in Cape Town, concluded this month.
The proactive, resilience training project was specifically designed for faith leaders and was presented as a collaboration between Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (Safcei), the City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management, South African Police Service Explosives Unit and Hawks Crimes against the State.
It was created in response to a growing global trend which sees places of worship becoming soft targets for religiously motivated, violent extremism as well as criminals.
Initially launched in 2019, the project took a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The training covered emergency coordination and evacuation procedures, safety plans and incident awareness, as well as first aid and sustainability practices.
Eleven faith leaders representing diverse religions participated in the pilot course.
On Wednesday 18 May, a graduation ceremony was held for the first cohort of faith leaders who have been trained. The ceremony took place at the City of Cape Town Council Chambers.
Rev Berry Behr, faith leader liaison for Safcei, says: “Our first cohort of diverse faith leaders have been trained to look with new eyes at the safety aspects of their communities and are now embarking on phase two of the project during which they will learn about building resilience through sustainable practices.”
Guru Krishna, priest at Siva Aalayam Temple in Rylands, participated in the programme and says it was informative and enlightening pertaining to safety and security.
“It was a wonderful learning experience and has given us so much information on how to protect our places of worship. It was a real blessing to be part of this programme and I am now planning on having a workshop among our other congregants in the area to share the knowledge so that everyone will be empowered to make the place safe for the community.”
Rev Lazarus Chetty, from the Assembly of God church in Bellville-South, says the great thing about the programme is that it creates awareness and helps with readiness for any emergency that could appear in their community.
“The most important thing was to start preparing our congregation also so that they would be alert and vigilant at all times.”
Marlon Petersen, priest at Revival Ministries in Mitchell’s Plain, says: “I can only commend the foresight of the Disaster Risk Management team and other partners in identifying the need to be proactive and share their knowledge with faith leaders, thereby building relationships and social cohesion where formerly there was isolation and lack of cooperation.”
Shariefa Wydeman, member of the Claremont Main Road Mosque, says since attending the programme, they could implement some of the methods they have learned to make the mosque a safer place of worship.
“The things that we have implemented since our training was to get fully functional fire extinguishers which are strategically placed throughout the mosque. We now have signage on all our exits, staircases and our medical station. We have evacuation plans, something we never thought we needed before.
“Fifteen members of the mosque did a basic fire safety course. Our safety levels are heightened now.”
JP Smith, Mayco member for safety and security, says there is a great need to expand the programme.
“I appreciate that this might prevent us from having a similar incident to what we had at Malmesbury Mosque or in Verulam where worshippers were fatally wounded during an attack.
“These things are not impossible. We are not immune to these kinds of forces. But the more we talk like this, the more we build common consensus and understanding, the more resilient we become.”
Felicity Purchase, Speaker of the City of Cape Town Council, says this initiative will help bring safety, security and resilience to places of worship.
“The City is trying to be prepared, we are using every opportunity we can with the resources that we have available to be more prepared.
“I want to thank Disaster Risk Management, the police, the Hawks and everyone involved. Congratulations and well done to all the candidates. It starts with you. You have to be the difference you want to see.”
