Refugees store their belongings in a room of Central Methodist Mission in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, in this undated file photograph. Church officials say South African police staged a brutal raid on the mission Jan. 30. A UMNS file photo by Emily Fisher.

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

A Methodist bishop in Johannesburg, South Africa, is crying foul after police staged a brutal raid on Central Methodist Mission, arresting more than a thousand refugees and damaging property.

Bishop Paul Verryn heads the mission, which is supported through UMCOR. A UMNS file photo by Michelle Scott.

The raid, which began around 11 p.m. on Jan. 30 and lasted for nearly four hours, caused both physical and psychological trauma, according to Bishop Paul Verryn.

In a Jan. 31 telephone interview from Johannesburg, Verryn told United Methodist News Service that police broke down every door in the church building during a raid that they later labeled a "routine" search for drugs, guns and illegal immigrants.

Central Methodist Mission receives support from the United Methodist Committee on Relief for its Ray of Hope ministry, which provides shelter, food, clothing, child care, counseling and employment assistance to refugees. Many of the refugees are schoolteachers, accountants and other professionals fleeing economic hardship and political strife in neighboring Zimbabwe.

United Methodist Bishop Felton May, interim chief executive for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, UMCOR’s parent agency, said he was "shocked and indignant" over the actions of the South African police and called for the immediate release of all detainees.

"There must be at least 10 laws that (police) broke."
–Bishop Paul Verryn

When Verryn visited with Global Ministries and UMCOR staff in New York in early January, he reported some 1,200 refugees sleep each night at the church, up from 900 the year before.

That is about how many people were in the mission when the raid began, according to Verryn, who was in his office at the time. He said police officers refused to speak with him during the raid and that he was assaulted and "pulled down the stairs by the belt of my trousers."

"There must be at least 10 laws that they broke (during the raid)," Verryn said, citing the lack of a search warrant, damage to church property, theft of money and assaults on numerous people, including women. "One person came to me with his mouth full of blood."

Police behavior

Verryn criticized the behavior of the approximately 50 to 100 police officers involved, all of whom were carrying guns. "I have no difficulty with people doing their job," he said. "If we could facilitate the police doing their job so there is no criminal activity in the church, that would help us."

No drugs or guns were found, but the police arrested nearly everyone in the building including some South Africans, the bishop said. Also arrested were some of the 400-odd refugees who were in the streets surrounding the mission, although many others fled.

On Jan. 31, some 400 to 500 people were still being detained and charged with loitering. They had received little to eat, Verryn said.

Children gather at the mission's preschool and child care ministry in this undated photograph taken before the raid. A UMNS file photo by Faye Richardson.

Some may be deported after a Feb. 1 court hearing, he added, if they don’t have legal documents for residence in South Africa. The catch, according to the bishop, is that "a lot of people there (in custody) have legal documents but can’t get access to their documents in the (Central Methodist) building."

Nothing was done to warrant the physical abuse during the raid, in the bishop’s opinion. "The people in the building behaved impeccably," he said.

A more serious result of the police action was "the clamping of the people’s souls with their hobnail boots," he charged. The Doctors Without Borders office at Central Methodist is setting up a therapy team to help those who were traumatized by the incident.

Long history of service

In a Jan. 31 statement, May said the Board of Global Ministries and UMCOR "are thankful that we are partners with Central Church and its leader, Bishop Paul Verryn, in the homeless ministry now so dishonorably interrupted. We intend to continue in this partnership in all possible ways despite the horrifying action of the South African police.

"Central Church has a long history of serving as a refuge, a center of hope, for the homeless; the church’s program helps displaced people obtain food, shelter, child care and jobs. These ministries of love are well known to both the city and national authorities. Why is there now hostility to humanitarian service?"

"These ministries of love are well known to both the city and national authorities. Why is there now hostility to humanitarian service?"
–Bishop Felton May

May called on the South African government and police to release those detained in the raid and to apologize to them and the church. "The government can then go forward with a program to assist immigrants from Zimbabwe and other areas who enter South Africa believing they are going into a country of care and compassion," he said.

"Further, I urge former South African President Nelson Mandela and Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu, both South Africans known for commitments to justice and fairness, to look into the Central Church raid and use their influence so that such a thing will not happen again," May said.

UMCOR continues to support Central Methodist Mission. Donations to the Ray of Hope project can be made through UMCOR Advance No. 199456, Zimbabwe Emergency, and dropped in local church collection plates or mailed directly to UMCOR at P.O. Box 9068, New York, N.Y. 10087-9068. Credit-card donations can be made online at http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/advance/donate.cfm?code=982540&id=3019059 or by calling (800) 554-8583.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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UMCOR

Methodist Church of Southern Africa