The Transportation Management Framework for the Polokwane Local Municipality During the Zion Christian Church Easter Weekend Pilgrimage

Abstract

The high volume of traffic to the Holy City of Moria during the Easter weekend could be graphically described as taxing to both the motorists and pilgrims. The rationale for the study was to understand, investigate, analyse and describe the role of the Polokwane Local Municipality (PLM) in the planning and the execution of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) Easter weekend pilgrimage with a view to reducing vehicular traffic. The PLM is home to the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), that hosts one of the biggest mass gathering event on the African continent, but researchers and the media have paid little or no attention to this pilgrimage which attracts more than 15 million pilgrims during the Easter weekend. It is notable that a mass gathering is an event attended by enough people to strain the planning and response resources of a community, state or nation. The researchers adopted an action research strategy with the view to carving out a lasting solution to the management of the high volume of vehicular traffic during the Easter weekend pilgrimage. Judgemental or purposive sampling was chosen over other available sampling methods due to the few experienced municipality employees who work closely with the church in the planning of the pilgrimage. Eight themes emerged during the interaction between the researchers and the municipality. The study graphically showed that there was a lack of synergy between the ZCC and the municipality in the execution of the pilgrimage. The research findings suggested that; traffic congestion was attributable to a vehicular-centric approach to transport planning in South Africa. The heavy reliance on vehicular transportation by South Africans is a cause of road accidents. The study recommended an introduction of a pilgrim train for the church with a view to reducing vehicular traffic congestion during the Easter weekend pilgrimage for the collective good of both the motorists and the pilgrims. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Creative Construction Conference 2019.