Paul Verryn

Paul Verryn
Born	(1952-02-26) 26 February 1952
Nationality	South African
Alma mater	Rhodes University
Occupation	Minister
Known for	Methodist minister and Bishop in Johannesburg
Title	Reverend
Religion	Christian (Methodist)

Paul Verryn (born 26 February 1952)^[1] is an ordained minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa and a controversial figure in the Church and society. He has been involved in a refugee crisis, has served as Bishop in the Central District of the Methodist Church, and was suspended in 2010 on the grounds that he had exceeded his authority.^[2]

Training and career

Verryn is a graduate of Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape (B.Arts and B.Divinity).^[1] From 1973 to 1983 he served as a minister in the Methodist Circuits of Uitenhage, Southern Transkei, Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth. In 1984 Verryn was moved to what is now Gauteng Province, to Roodepoort (1984–1987) and then to Soweto (1988-1997). In 1997 Verryn was elected as Bishop of the Central District, and began serving also as a minister in the Johannesburg Circuit, where his home church was the Johannesburg Central Methodist Society.^[1]

Additional positions

Verryn was also appointed as Supervisor of Studies (of student ministers) during the period 1982-1997, and as a John Wesley College tutor from 1994 to 1997.^[1] In 1994 he also assumed the position of:

• Chair of the South African College for Teacher Education
• Convenor of the Training Programme (Phase 1) for Methodist ministers
• Superintendent of the Soweto Community Centre.^[1]

Other positions which Verryn holds include

• Chairmanship of the National Cancer Association, Eastern Cape;
• Council Member and also Trustee of St. Stithian's College.

In the Apartheid era

An anti-Apartheid activist

"Paul has said that he was 'radicalised' in the Eastern Cape, where he gave shelter to activists fleeing from the security police during South Africa's apartheid days."^[3] He also served as Chair of the Detainees Parents Support Committee during 1982-83.^[1] (South African law during this time allowed detention without trial under certain circumstances).

Stompie Moeketsi

In 1989 a media furor erupted following the abduction of four youths and the murder of James Seipei, also known as Stompie Moeketsi.^[2] Verryn had provided accommodation as a place of safety at the Orlando Mission house (Manse) for the four. At the time this was also his residence as the minister for the Soweto Circuit. Verryn was then also prominent as one of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's critics.

On 29 December 1988 the Mandela United Football Club (MUFC) abducted the four boys from the Mission house.^[4] The MUFC was a private force of bodyguards, who answered to and were controlled by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, then Nelson Mandela's wife and a leading anti-apartheid activist. Following the abduction, Madikizela-Mandela alleged that Verryn had been abusing the boys sexually. Some of the boys initially supported the allegation, but later retracted their statements, saying that the MUFC members had forced them to support the claim. Madikizela-Mandela also claimed that Seipei (Moeketsi) was a police informer, a charge which in those days could have resulted in mob execution of the accused.^[5] Seipei's body was found on 6 January 1989, dumped on waste ground in Soweto. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that the purpose of the abduction had been to force the boys to accuse Verryn of sexual abuse, and, after hearing testimony from all surviving witnesses and accusers, specifically cleared Verryn of any charges of sexual abuse.^[5][6]

The Zimbabwean refugee crisis

The Johannesburg Central Methodist Church, under the leadership of Bishop Paul Verryn, had established a tradition of ministering to the poor and marginalised in the city centre.^[7] When the flow of Zimbabwean refugees into South Africa had been significantly reduced, the South African government removed special controls which it had been forced to put in place. However, refugees and illegal immigrants continued to enter the country in relatively limited numbers, mostly from Zimbabwe. Many of them were destitute and jobless as well as being homeless. Over the objections of some of his church members, Verryn offered Johannesburg Central Methodist Church to this need.^[7] The steady inflow of refugees soon filled the church, which lacking all suitable facilities, nevertheless accommodated over 1500 refugees who slept on the pews and the floors; anywhere they could find a space.

In 2008 the South African Police raided the church in search of illegal immigrants. About 1500 people were held, in most cases temporarily.^[8][9] During 2008 and continuing into 2009 an increasing tide of resentment (labelled "xenophobia" by the media) against these foreigners peaked and broke out into anti-foreigner riots. Many Zimbabwean immigrants (whether legal or illegal), together with Mozambicans, Malawians, Taiwanese and others from any other African country became victims of the violence, losing lives, businesses, jobs and ^[10] The need for a place of safety for Zimbabwean (and other) refugees became urgent. The Zimbabwean refugee ark of Johannesburg Central Methodist Church began to burst at the seams. During the later part of 2008 the police found it necessary to guard the refugees with shotgun armed officers.^[11]

Verryn requested the Johannesburg city authorities to provide for the refugees, but at the same time refused to allow immigration authorities to enter the sanctuary of the church to identify illegal immigrants. Early in 2009 the local municipality began to make plans to alleviate the situation at the church.^[12]

Meanwhile, inevitably, thefts, fights and assaults occurred among the refugees. Several young girls claimed that they had been raped, or sexually abused. In the latter part of 2009, once again Verryn was accused of abusing children and/or young women among the refugees. An exhaustive investigation by the media revealed no evidence whatever to substantiate the accusations against him. All of the girls who had claimed rape or sexual assault identified men other than Verryn as the guilty ones. The medical staff of Médecins sans Frontières, who by now also worked among the refugees, stated that they had treated only one girl for rape, and that this attack had not taken place at the church.^[2]

Suspension

In January 2010, the MCSA laid undisclosed internal charges against Verryn, and after a hearing he was suspended on 19 January 2010.^[2][13] The fact that the charges were initially undisclosed did nothing to quell the rumours that the real reason for the charges was that there was substance to the accusations which had been made. A statement was later released that the basis for the charges had been that Verryn had exceeded his authority.

It has been suggested that the fact that South Africa was to hold the FIFA Soccer World Cup in July 2010 had something to do with the government's urgent need to clean up the city, and with the Methodist church's decision to at last take decisive action in the matter. Others have suggested that the official grounds for Verryn's suspension amounted to a cover-up.^[2]

While suspended from his position as Bishop and his station as minister and superintendent of the Johannesburg Circuit, Verryn remains an ordained minister within the Methodist Church.

References