Cape Town - A pop-up church in Maitland has left residents in the Kensington area fuming by causing severe traffic congestion.
The church is located at the foot of the bridge connecting Kensington and Maitland, opposite Kehl’s and near the bottle store and KFC.
“The situation is very bad,” resident Zea Aimes said. “The church is in contravention of a host of by-laws, including illegal and outright daft and dangerous parking
“Trying to return home from Sunday morning and afternoon shopping is filled with bitter frustration.”
She said it was an informal church and utilised the space of a factory.
“Church-goers park everywhere, on the bridge’s sidewalk and along the kerbside.”
According to Aimes, the community are at their wits’ end and have even started a petition calling for the church to comply with the rules.
But there’s another problem.
“The church has praise and worship until the early hours.
“Residents as far as eight streets away are disgruntled and confused about the moral validity of having a church service at 3am - with full band and amplifying equipment.
“This is above and beyond the usual Sunday services.
“Last year, Helen Jacobs, the councillor from Ward 56, made certain attempts to get a measure compliance from this church, but that effort was at best abysmal and yielded poor fruit,” Aimes said.
The Cape Argus spoke to Jacobs regarding the matter. She confirmed she had received numerous complaints.
“I am aware of all this and I have received many complaints about it.
“The complaints are mostly about the parking, because they have over 5000 congregants attending the church.
“Residents have also raised issues about the noise volumes,” Jacobs said.
She added she was currently in more talks with the church.