The office of the Presidency has reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa is considering holding a National Day of Prayer, amid the violence taking place in Mzansi. The office said the president has been having consultations with leaderships of various sectors of society to develop a society-wide response to the violence and destruction affecting many parts of the country.

According to the Presidency’s spokeswoman, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Ramaphosa’s outreach aims to supplement the mobilisation of the police, army and other law enforcement bodies to prevent public violence, loss of life and damage to property.

She said on Monday 12 July, the ministers engaged with business leadership on the situation in the country and made several recommendations.

On Tuesday 13 July, President Ramaphosa chaired a meeting of the National Security Council to assess developments around the country and co-ordinate government’s security response including intelligence gathering to the widespread criminality.

“The president, accompanied by several ministers, met religious leaders from the different faith communities.

“The leaders expressed support for government’s efforts in bringing stability to a number of areas where incidents of interest are taking place.”

The religious leaders expressed support for the deployment of the soldiers to support the police in stabilising the situation, and also called for a comprehensive response to the societal conditions enabling the events unfolding around the country.

She said religious leaders urged government to consider allowing communities of faith to gather for worship, while observing Covid-19 health regulations, as part of the national effort to restore calm and provide counselling to communities.

“President Ramaphosa welcomed the concern expressed by interfaith leaders in events in the country and welcomed a proposal for a National Day of Prayer,” she said.

Ntshavheni said the president was expecting to have consultations with leaders of political parties on Wednesday morning, 14 July.

“Government leaders are also engaging with informal and small business associations, community leaders, traditional leaders and others, particularly in KZN and Gauteng.”