The Makana Council of Churches held its annual general meeting at the Ethiopian Episcopal Church in Raglan Road on Tuesday evening.
One of the main items on the agenda was discussing the council’s plans for World Aids Day on 1 December. World Aids Day was launched in 1988 and is about increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and educating people about HIV/Aids.
The Makana Council of Churches held its annual general meeting at the Ethiopian Episcopal Church in Raglan Road on Tuesday evening.
One of the main items on the agenda was discussing the council’s plans for World Aids Day on 1 December. World Aids Day was launched in 1988 and is about increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and educating people about HIV/Aids.
It was decided that a special event will be held on 5 December at 2.30pm in St Augustine’s Church and Makana Mayor Vumile Lwana is expected to be the guest speaker. The council also plans to march from Noluthando Hall with banners to make people aware of the pandemic.
"If Christ was here today, he would not sit and watch while people are dying. He wouldn’t be sitting within these four walls hoping for a miracle to happen but would go out the and help those infected and affected," said council chairperson Reverend Mbuzeli Methu. "We also have to start motivating people in our churches to go and test," said Methu.
Methu emphasised that it is important to try and stop the stigma attached to HIV/Aids as this prevents people from knowing their status. "HIV does not kill, it is the person who kills himself by not taking good care of their health.
People have to be taught to treat HIV like any other illness and use the medication accordingly," he said. As a way of encouraging those in attendance of the ceremony to know their status, the council plans to invite a mobile clinic so that people can participate in voluntary counselling and testing. Methu added that one needs to know your own status before you can help others.
Mohammed Moorad, the secretary of the Grahamstown Muslim Association was granted an opportunity to address the gathering. He invited the Council of Churches to join him in taking a moral stand against the business Adult World which sells adult material.
He stated that the 80 churches in Grahamstown should stand together and oppose the business, which should include drawing up a petition for the mayor. Methu responded to this by saying, "We need to take time and sit down with the council to see what we can do about such a shop.
We are always preaching moral regeneration but how will complete regeneration take place with such shops around?" He also said the shop is worse than crime as it encourages people to be immoral. He also urged people to act in ways that will curb crime in their areas, "because of crime, Clive [Newman] was murdered but it can be me or you tomorrow".
