Khayelitsha Police Station officers and their Spiritual Crime Prevention Forum (SCPF) counterparts made a special visit to the Site B Community Health Clinic (CHC) to pray for the patients on Friday 22.
The event was organised by the Khayelitsha police to show Ubuntu and to instil hope in patients at the clinic.
Khayelitsha Police Station spokesperson Const Asanda Daweti said they saw a need to intervene spiritually.
“We went there to rebuke the bad spirits as some of the patients at the clinic are the victims of crime or bad spirits. We wanted to show them love and support,” said Daweti.
She described the initiative as a part of Nelson Mandela Month celebrations.
Khayelitsha SCPF chair and leader of Great Commission Church in Site C Bishop Aaron Makili said the service was part of taking the pulpit to the community. He said they were trying to build a relationship between the officers and the community.
“We want to change the perception that people have about the police. We want the community to know that police are also human beings. Their job is not only to carry guns or arrest people. They can also interact with the community in many ways,” he said.
Makili urged the community to work with the police to fight crime.
Abulele Dyasi, communications officer for the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness in the Khayelitsha Eastern sub-structure, said police organised the event.
She said the department expressed its gratitude to the officers and the community for showing great support.
“The Mandela Day service was a police initiative and not a request from the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness. We can confirm that service delivery was not interrupted. The Site B (Khayelitsha) clinic would like to thank the officers and our community leaders for choosing our facility to spend time during their Mandela Day initiative. We always appreciate the support from our community and government partners,” said Dyasi.