HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CHURCH
OUR HISTORY
The Catholic Church in KwaNobuhle has a rich history which has been mainly preserved by oral tradition. The reconstruction and the production of this history has been a dialogical relationship of both remembering and forgetting.
SHORT HISTORY OF KWANOBUHLE TOWNSHIP
The name kwaNobuhle, literally means "a place of beauty", “a beautiful place”. This township traces its origins back to 1967. It was established to solve the housing problem among Africans and houses those residents from kwaLanga, eXaba and Endikindeni who, at that time, were "persuaded" by the local authorities to vacate the homes they had occupied in some cases for over three generations, and "remove" themselves to a place six kilometres away from the town’s commercial centre.
Although official reasons given at the time for the removal of people from Uitenhage to kwaNobuhle were unclear and often contradictory but is clear the removals were part of the comprehensive plan to make Uitenhage conform to apartheid urban policy principles by removing Africans from Kabah, where they had historically lived side-by-side with coloureds. When people were removed, their houses were demolished and no-one was expected to build or erect any structure there. The removal, at that time, of families from kwaLanga,eXaba and eNdikindeni does not appear to have been done forcibly. However many people felt that they had been given little choice in the matter.
What was “beautiful about the place” was that roads were tarred and houses consisted of a four-roomed brick structure roofed over with corrugated asbestos sheeting. No ceilings or internal doors were provided and all ablution facilities were located separate from the main house to the rear of the stand. KwaNobuhle was considered to be windy. Different areas in KwaNobuhle have been given names which are not official, such as Volksville (Volkswagen), Angola, Comfy, Tyoksville (Shackville), Khayelitsha (New home) etc
Early beginnings of Holy Family Church
There were relatively few Catholics among those “deported” to KwaNobuhle. The first Catholic families that moved to KwaNobuhle were the following Tyulu (17 Poto), Sihlobo (HIntsa), Khetshengane (22 Sobhuza), Tali (Sobhuza), Mfingwana (Rarabe), Teyisi (Rarabe), Mbovane (Rarabe), Feni (Ndlambe), Jonas (Pilani), Dlamini (Pato), Bhoma (Oba) Dida (Ngqika) and Peter Brook (relative to the late Bishop Brook, Bishop of Mthatha), For few months there were no pastoral activities taking place in this community.
House Masses
Mrs Makhanda and Sowazi from Marymount visited the homes of Catholics in this relatively new township. After their visit the first Mass was celebrated at Tyulu’s residence, 17 Poto Street, in 1969 by Fr George Randel. From there it was celebrated in various houses on rotational basis. For the sake of stability, Khetshengane residence 22 Sobhuza, became the main Mass station. Mrs Mfingwana was responsible for gathering the Catholics. Mass was celebrated every second Sunday by Fr George Randel.
The arrival of the families of Titi, Ngesi and Khonzi boosted the morale of the Catholic family in KwaNobuhle. Mr Khonzi, Titi and Karel would lead the community in prayer on the alternate Sundays. They introduced the Legion of Mary and they also taught Catechetics. This community became an outstation of Marymount. Parishioners were transported to Marymount for the celebration of Sacraments such as Baptism and confirmation. The Catholics grew in numbers and the Khetshengane house could not accommodated the number of people who were attending Mass. New space was sought.
Role of schools
Ntlemeza which was the only school could not be used since a number of churches were already using it. Fr Jasper Mduna, a convert from the Anglican Church, who was one of the earliest African priest to be ordained for the Diocese of Port Elizabeth, succeeded Fr Randel and was the second priest to serve KwaNobuhle community. When Mngcunumbe School (2nd school to be built ) was completed, a classroom was used as the Mass centre to accommodate the growing number of Catholics. On Sundays, schools in KwaNobuhle ceased to be areas of learning and teaching but centres of prayer, preaching and hymns. Later, however, the presence of Churches in school premises was deemed detrimental to the security and the well-being of the schools. After a major role played by schools in keeping the faith alive and church communities together, Churches were forced to vacate the schools.
The Catholic Community had to go back to the Ketshengane home. Fr Mduna acquired a site next to Ntlemeza School.