BishopAccountability.org
	Suspended Head of Zim Refugee Mission Fights Back By Alex Bell SWRadioAfrica January 25, 2010 http://www.swradioafrica.com/news250110/zimrefugees250110.htm The head of the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg, Paul Verryn, is fighting back against his suspension, as support for the controversial cleric continues to grow. Verryn was suspended last week pending a hearing before a disciplinary committee of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, which has accused the former bishop of “transgressing the laws and discipline of the church.” The charges are in connection with a court application Verryn made last year to get a curator appointed to look after the many unaccompanied miners at the Central Methodist Mission in Johannesburg. The Methodist Church of Southern Africa has said that Verryn acted ‘unilaterally’ and without its support, also accusing the cleric of speaking to the media without its consent. Verryn however is fighting back against the suspension, seeking on Monday to have his disciplinary hearing postponed. He told South African media this weekend that his suspension boils down to a dispute he has with the current Bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, Bishop Ivan Abrahams. The Church has denied this. Verryn has been lauded as a ‘friend of Zimbabwe’ for opening up the church to refugees who had nowhere else to go, particularly during 2007’s outbreak of xenophobic violence that saw hundreds of foreigners flee local South African communities. But the renowned former anti-apartheid cleric has also been a controversial figure. He has received international acclaim for aiding homeless foreigners and for pressuring the South African government to reform its policies regarding refugees. But he has also faced severe criticism for the humanitarian crisis that has developed at the church over the past few years. Rights groups have called the situation ‘untenable’ and a potential health risk, with hundreds of people sleeping on the streets around the church. Local businesses have threatened Verryn with legal action, accusing the refugees living at the church of being responsible for crime in the area. They’ve also said the unsanitary conditions have affected their businesses. Last year there were also allegations of sexual abuse of children living at the church. But support for Verryn has been gathering since the very public announcement of his suspension last week, with a group of friends and supporters meeting in Johannesburg on Sunday to plan their support for the embattled bishop. “What he’s going through is horrendous,” group member and friend Wendy Landau told SW Radio Africa on Monday. “He needs to know there are people out there rooting for him.” Landau created an online support group on the social networking site Facebook on Saturday. By Monday evening the page had more than 340 fans or supporters, with many supporters voicing their concerns of an active campaign to remove Verryn from the Church in Johannesburg. One support commented that “it appears that in Johannesburg at the moment the poor, the displaced and the homeless have become extremely threatening to those who are in power.” Other observers have already argued that the suspension is part of a planned move to have the refugee mission closed down, which local government officials have previously called for. The South African government’s treatment of foreigners, particularly Zimbabwean refugees, has been based on exclusion and denial up until very recently. Under former president Thabo Mbeki’s policy of quiet diplomacy on the Zimbabwe crisis, the refugee crisis in his own country was ‘overlooked’. This resulted in tens of thousands of Zimbabwean refugees receiving no support from the South African government. The Central Methodist Church therefore has been the only haven for many Zimbabweans, in a country where the refugee policy has only started to change recently.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.