Cape Town - Frustrated Heideveld church-goers are appealing to the community to help them apprehend thieves breaking into the properties.
This after another robbery at a church at the weekend.
The Father’s House Church was ransacked by thieves who stole electronic equipment, clothes and other items.
Pastor Gaylynn Arends said the items the suspects took from the church were worth close to R30000.
“This wasn’t the first time something like this has happened to our church, but there is no treating it like something we can get used to.
“As a pastor working in this community every day, I find it hard to understand why the same community we are serving is not speaking up about these break-ins.
“On Saturday, after the break-in, a neighbour approached me to say he had seen the lights on at the church earlier that morning and had quickly notified the police.
“What’s sad is that police didn’t come here until Sunday morning. If they had then I think they would have been able to catch these guys or at least prevent them from ransacking the place,” Arends said.
Police said they had registered a case of housebreaking and theft for investigation. No arrests had been made yet.
Heideveld’s Great Commission Church is another spiritual sanctuary that had repeatedly been broken into by unknown suspects who are still to be apprehended, according to its pastor Vernon Visagie.
Visagie said: “A day or two before they broke into pastor Gaylynn’s church they broke into ours. They took our cables, bags of donated clothes and lights. It wasn’t the first time either, had to be the third time in the last two months.
“The amount of damage these thieves keep on doing needs to be brought to an end. I don’t understand how the community is not telling the police what they know, because they do know who the (culprits) might be.
“The CPF has reached out to say they will be championing our cause, and I sincerely hope that it brings about the necessary change.”
Heideveld Community Policing Forum (CPF) Chairperson Vanessa Addriaanse said: “We cannot condone these incidents when one goes to desecrate the place of God – we cannot sit idly.
“As the CPF, local safety organisations and the broader community, we are taking a stand against these perpetrators and will be working with police to make sure they are arrested.”
Addriaanse said the CPF would be hosting a community engagement session in partnership with local police and other safety structures to discuss how the community can bring to an end the robberies.