Main PageChurch refugees finding homes - bishop
Johannesburg - The refugees about to be evicted
from the Central Methodist Church in
Johannesburg are finding their own
accommodation, Bishop Paul Verryn said on
Monday.
Verryn said he had been involved in the inner city
for many years to ensure the Constitution
protected people, including against eviction
without alternative accommodation being
provided.
"The church took a decision at one of its meetings
that when I leave, the people in this building must
also vacate this building," he said.
He would not comment on the Sunday Times
report that the refugees were being kicked out for
running up a R2m electricity bill. Verryn's term as
superintendent at the church was coming to an
end this month.
According to the New Age he told the church he
was not afraid to approach the court after the
church said it would evict more than 400 people by
the end of December.
"I don't think we are going to get to that place. I
have a feeling that people want to co-operate and
find a dignified way to deal with this matter,"
Verryn told Sapa.
"Poor people are not disposable units... One of the
good things that came from this was the media
that helped to enable people to understand that
there is a greater humanity that we are dealing
with in this matter."
He said people were slowly beginning to move and
many managed to get their own accommodation
after the church, next to the high court in the CBD,
decided it would close its doors to refugees by the
end of December.
Verryn said many people were finding
accommodation in Soweto. He had meetings with
leaders from the Lutheran church and counsellors
from Soweto to find alternative accommodation.
On Christmas Eve, the number of people who
needed accommodation was 468.
Verryn said he had lived in Soweto for 27 years
and would continue working there and the Central
Methodist Church would continue its worship
sessions as usual.
The church has been a home for refugees since
the xenophobic attacks in the country in 2008.
Presiding Bishop Reverend Ziphozihle Siwa was
not immediately available for comment.
The refugees had reportedly said they would fight
the process as they had nowhere to go and were
unemployed.
SAPA
from the Central Methodist Church in
Johannesburg are finding their own
accommodation, Bishop Paul Verryn said on
Monday.
Verryn said he had been involved in the inner city
for many years to ensure the Constitution
protected people, including against eviction
without alternative accommodation being
provided.
"The church took a decision at one of its meetings
that when I leave, the people in this building must
also vacate this building," he said.
He would not comment on the Sunday Times
report that the refugees were being kicked out for
running up a R2m electricity bill. Verryn's term as
superintendent at the church was coming to an
end this month.
According to the New Age he told the church he
was not afraid to approach the court after the
church said it would evict more than 400 people by
the end of December.
"I don't think we are going to get to that place. I
have a feeling that people want to co-operate and
find a dignified way to deal with this matter,"
Verryn told Sapa.
"Poor people are not disposable units... One of the
good things that came from this was the media
that helped to enable people to understand that
there is a greater humanity that we are dealing
with in this matter."
He said people were slowly beginning to move and
many managed to get their own accommodation
after the church, next to the high court in the CBD,
decided it would close its doors to refugees by the
end of December.
Verryn said many people were finding
accommodation in Soweto. He had meetings with
leaders from the Lutheran church and counsellors
from Soweto to find alternative accommodation.
On Christmas Eve, the number of people who
needed accommodation was 468.
Verryn said he had lived in Soweto for 27 years
and would continue working there and the Central
Methodist Church would continue its worship
sessions as usual.
The church has been a home for refugees since
the xenophobic attacks in the country in 2008.
Presiding Bishop Reverend Ziphozihle Siwa was
not immediately available for comment.
The refugees had reportedly said they would fight
the process as they had nowhere to go and were
unemployed.
SAPA
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