A South African church that has given shelter to more than 30,000 refugees closed its doors to them on Thursday, leaving the remaining occupants with an uncertain future.
The Central Methodist Church in central Johannesburg became a haven for people fleeing political violence, especially in neighboring Zimbabwe, but caused resentment among city authorities, who blamed it for encouraging crime.
Bishop Paul Verryn, who turned the church into a sanctuary for destitute and homeless people, denied that he had been ousted after 18 years.
“Nothing has been forced upon us,” he said. “This is a decision I made under no external pressure whatsoever, but I felt the time is right to move on to something different and new. It’s been a huge part of my life for a long time, but I am not bereft. A season comes and a season goes.”
In 2000, the church began to take in a few dozen people who were too vulnerable to live on the street. It soon attracted undocumented migrants from countries including Burundi, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
In 2008, xenophobic attacks against immigrants and political turmoil in Zimbabwe saw the numbers of refugees in the church swell to more than 3,000, including more than 100 unaccompanied children.
“Many of the people were quite desperate and despondent,” Verryn said. “That is what opened the doors. Many would come to this place having been tortured and seriously violated.”
They slept in slum-like conditions on floors, stairs and pews amid broken windows and the stench of urine. Alcoholism, gang crime and diseases such as cholera were a constant threat; deaths were not uncommon.
However, there were also notable achievements, including a clinic, adult training workshops, fitness classes and a school that began in 2008 and last year achieved a 100 percent pass rate in every subject.
The school will continue and is seeking alternative accommodation.
The number of refugees was about 460 on Christmas Eve and since then has dropped substantially, with the remainder being “asked to leave” rather than forcibly evicted, Verryn said.
Many have moved to the nearby town of Soweto, or made other arrangements, he added.
Verryn, 62, is to continue as a church superintendent in Soweto and work as an anti-poverty campaigner, while it is hoped the church he leaves behind — which never ceased running Sunday services — will undergo a renovation likely to cost millions.
“It couldn’t just carry on indefinitely, forever,” Verryn said. “There’s no doubt the building has taken a hammering.”
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