Luvuyo Kakaza
Bishop Mvume Dandala’s working day usually begins at 5am. The presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church is also the president of the South African Council of Churches. The responsibilities that come with these positions are the reason he is up before dawn.
And now the dedicated clergyman has another role to honour – he will soon take office as the first black prior of The Order of St John. His appointment has been confirmed by the order’s head, Queen Elizabeth.
The Order of St John is celebrating its 900th anniversary this year. It was established by British knights after the crusades when they started a hospice which was the foundation for the order. It has evolved into the St John’s Ambulance Foundation and Brigade, which is still active around the world.
Dandala appears to have too much on his plate already, but says he will “do anything to serve God’s people”.
His daily schedule is hectic. “My day starts as early as 5am and I can be found dozing on airport benches while waiting for a plane to jet out to another African country,” he says.
Dandala is constantly travelling to Southern African countries to provide guidance to the Methodist community. He is also committed to assisting in nation- building in South Africa. This week, he was among the religious leaders who led the prayers at President Thabo Mbeki’s inauguration.
Dandala uses his hands for emphasis as he enthusiastically speaks about the challenges he faces in his new position. The first one is to integrate the predominately white organisation and make it representative of all South Africans.
“The Order of St John provides enormous opportunities through which all South Africans, and young people in particular, can be encouraged to embrace the culture of volunteerism, a culture that is essential for the future of this land,” he says.
“People like to talk about poverty but the order acts for the poor in ways that respect their dignity. The order will also introduce new programmes to equip people to assist their families and others in handling the effects of the scourge of Aids.”
He believes the only way that the order can help to fight Aids in Africa is through advocating safe sex and educating young people. Dandala says he has already drafted his plans and these will include networking with other community organisations and schools.
Born in the remote village of Libode in the Transkei, Dandala has an impressive track record of working closely with communities long before his early days in the ministry.
“I grew up in the village where everything was done collectively. I’ve seen my elders serving on school management bodies and forming small clinics in the neighbourhood. This experience as a teenager made me decide to take up God’s call to serve my people,” he says.
Dandala has come a long way – from being a prisoner to a peace negotiator who helped end tribal faction fights in hostels around Johannesburg in the 1990s.
In the 1980s, he was detained without trial.
“Apartheid taught me many things. It showed the police brutality in prison and attitudes of naive white policemen who accepted the propaganda to defend apartheid.”
He describes that period as most demanding for the clergy. ” We had to patrol streets at night to keep the peace while the army was the perpetrator of violence.”
He stresses that he has never been political; as a church leader, he believes his work is based on God’s will to reconcile communities and to reach out to the poor.
Dandala is a family man who spends quality time with his wife, Pumla, on Sundays. He has two children; Hlomla, an actor, appears in the television series Isidingo, and Gqibelo is a student.