By Munyaradzi Mutizwa
Zimbabwe Times
January 22, 2010
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=26839
SOUTH AFRICA -- Johannesburg Central Methodist Church (CMC) Bishop Paul Verryn, a man who has played a leading role in administering to the welfare and needs of desperate Zimbabwean and other refugees in the South African city of Johannesburg, has been suspended The Zimbabwe Times has been told from his position in the church.
Verryn has been under a lot of pressure from the church after applying to the Johannesburg high court for the appointment of a curator at the Church last year.
 |
| Bishop Paul Verryn |
The presiding bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, Ivan Abrahams said the application was invalid.
Abrahams said details of the suspension could not be revealed because the matter, was sub judice.
Contacted for comment Verryn did not take our several calls, but when we arrived at the church a refugee at the church said: 'He is not at the church at the moment probably he is at the Soweto campus or attending so many meetings….. We have been told that he was suspended but there is no proper announcement that has been made to us. We are hoping to get the news during the evening service", a refugee said
More than 3 000 migrants from across Africa live at the Johannesburg Central Methodist church.
In March a law firm occupying a building adjacent to the church went to court seeking an order for the eviction of the refugees alleging that they were making the firm lose business because of filth at the church premises.
Verryn has been fighting to keep the migrants at the church because it is the only shelter they have.
"This is shocking; I can't saying anything ….the Bishop is our father," a distressed Zimbabwean refugee said.
An estimated three million Zimbabweans live outside the country as refugees, having fled political repression and poverty after a decade-long economic crisis. The majority of them reside in South Africa many of them staying at the church. Critics blame President Robert Mugabe's controversial policies for the collapse of systems in Zimbabwe.
The majority of those resident at the Methodist Church in Johannesburg have however faced difficulties in accessing services such as schools but Verryn has been fighting hard for them get such basic services.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.