Jwaneng To Evict Noisy Churches
Lebogang Baingapi | Monday February 20, 2017 15:30
The chief by-law technician Ishmael William assured residents in a kgotla meeting last week that they will act on the matter and close some of the sources of noise. He said though there is freedom of worship in Botswana, other people’s peace should not be violated.
He also cautioned against illegal squatting of churches saying it is unlawful and they will soon launch an eviction against the perpetrators. Williams said if anyone fails to comply, the amended act of 2015 gives the council the powers to charge individuals a fine of P300 and P1,000 for entities like churches and companies.
“Our duty as bye-law officers is to execute the law and it is therefore not be viewed by the victims as somehow unchristian or unholy and the rights of the complainants should also be considered in the matter,” he clarified.
A resident, Ogolotse Mokhinwane noted that the council should rather consider demarcating spaces for the churches within the township than allowing mushrooming of churches everywhere. He said most of them are in residential areas and they disturb especially during examinations when students are studying very hard.
However a pastor at Pure Gospel Bible Church of God Bonang Tanka dismissed the complaints that they were the sole source of noise. He said the war between the church and the council was far from over as they were always accused of making noise yet they have consulted with their neighbours about how they operate. “Most of them attend our church and we have not received any complaint about noise nuisance,” he charged.
He said they once met council about the issue and were advised to reduce the noise as per the licence, but argued that those in attendance determined the level of noise. Tanka said he was worried that the council authorities only wants to regulate the noise of churches yet there are so many bars and liquor outlets which make noise. He said compliance has also been a problem, as the council required that there should be proper toilets at their place of worship with a ratio of one toilet to five people.
“That means with a membership of 450 people, we will need 90 toilets. It is a clear indication that there is no peace in Jwaneng and we however wish that we could be evicted to the outskirts of the town where no one will bother us with noise nuisance,” he added.