By The Zimbabwean
JOHANNESBURG – Johannesburg Central Methodist Church Bishop Paul Verryn – a friend of desperate African immigrants, mostly Zimbabweans in South Africa – has been suspended from his position in the church, a lawyer told reporters last week.
"He has been suspended and charged in an internal process," said Bongani Khoza, from a law firm that represents the Methodist Church, adding that Verryn was suspended last Tuesday although he refused to disclose reasons for the suspension.
The Johannesburg church offers refuge to more than 3 000 immigrants from across Africa with the bulk of them Zimbabweans who continue to flock to the sanctuary, fleeing their home country because of hunger and economic hardships.
Verryn has been at the centre of controversy involving the situation of women and children at the church in central Johannesburg. Last year the bishop approached the court seeking that a curator be appointed for minors living at the church.
The curator was subsequently appointed earlier this month to act as the legal guardian to 56 unaccompanied Zimbabwean minors – taking charge of all matters pertaining to the children at the church, including their pending relocation to shelters and safe homes.
Verryn has been embroiled in a wrangle with the Gauteng government which accuses him of refusing to cooperate with social workers who wanted to move the children to proper homes and shelters.
The Gauteng legislature's health and social development portfolio committee has called for the closure of the church, saying conditions there were a health hazard as "children are being exposed to abuse, babies are sleeping on the floor . . . the place is so filthy that we couldn't even breathe".
Civil society organizations, including the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, the South African Council of Churches (SACC) and the Treatment Action Campaign have also said the situation at the church was unsustainable because of health risks.
The church reportedly receives up to 200 new arrivals from Zimbabwe per week with the formation of a unity government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last February appearing to have done little to stem the tide of Zimbabweans crossing the border to seek food and better opportunities in their more prosperous southern neighbour.
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