Paul Verryn

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,later 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]

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 families.[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]

In January 2010, the MCSA laid undisclosed internal charges against Verryn, and after a hearing he was suspended on 19 January 2010.[2][13] 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.