Religion is the bedrock of Lenasia

WHEN people were forcibly relocated to the bare veld that Lenasia was in the mid-1950s, they had left behind well established places of worship in areas such as Vrededorp, Fordsburg, Newlands, Kliptown and central Johannesburg. There was not a single mosque, church or temple in Lenasia. There were no shops or sports fields. All that existed was the Lenasia High School and the Lenz Railway Station.

From this sense of absolute nothingness religiously-minded residents across the different faiths started the arduous process of building places of worship. Even as there was no mosque, church or temple, in the depths of their hearts they knew there is a God, and a just God at that.

Today, Lenasia has at least 60 mosques, churches and temples that were funded and developed entirely by the different faith communities. This figure does not include the informal religious services organised in people’s backyards and at makeshift structures in the Thembelihle informal settlement. Also, it does not consider the host of religious and educational centres - some with community halls - that provide religiously based educational, social and charitable services to the wider Lenasia community.

Initially, religious practices across faith groups were observed informally in the homes of a few of the early residents. Madrassah (elementary Islamic classes) too was run privately by one or two individuals at their houses. In addition to one’s spiritual beliefs and practices, religion offered a discriminated and oppressed community a degree of succour and comfort against the harsh realities of life under apartheid.

Quite often when people experience severe stress, they look inwardly for fortitude and strength. It was people’s religious beliefs and values that kept hope alive in the darkest days of apartheid, even as there were no formal places of worship in Lenasia. Their simple homes served as the sites of prayer. It took almost a decade for people of different faiths to get organised, raise the funds, acquire land, and design and develop their various places of worship.

The Shree Siva Soobramaniar Thirukoil was the first formal religious institution to be established in Lenasia. The Trustees can be traced to 1956, who incidentally also served as the committee overseeing the historic Melrose Shree Siva Soobramaniar Temple that was built in 1899 by Hindu-Tamil washermen working at the Melrose Steam Laundry near the Jukskei River.  Once the land was acquired in Lenasia a tent was set up to facilitate prayers on site.

The temple, located at 26 Heron Street, next to Model Primary School, and serves as a spiritual centre for the local Tamil-Hindu community. The first priest at the temple was Guru Kandasamy Masana, who passed away December 21, 1975.

This was followed by the construction of the Evangelical-Protestant Church of the Nazarene. Discreetly situated at No.2 Penguin Avenue in Extension 1, it was officially opened as the first church in the community on September 24, 1961, by Dr GB Williamson, the General Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene in Kansas City, Missouri, US.

The Church of the Nazarene has its origins in the United States of America and the foreign mission funded the building of the church in Lenasia. Like the other Christian groupings, the pastorate was started informally in 1956 in the Old Military Camp, which was led by Rev Samuel Moonsammy and Rev Gwayne Chellan.

Four years later, on January 1, 1965, the first mosque in Lenasia that is situated on Rose Avenue, was officially opened to the public by members of the “Saaberie Group from Lenasia and Pretoria”. It was named the Saaberie Jumma Musjid in honour of the great Indian saint of the late 13th century, Sayyid Alauddin Ali Ahmed “Sabir” (the “patient one”), who is the founder of Sabiriya Sufi Order.

Among the more prominent members of the Saaberie Jumma Musjid and Madrassah Trust were (Mufti) Ebrahim Sanjalvi, (Maulana) Ebrahim Mia, (Maulana) Abbas Ali Jeena, (Hafez) Abdur Rahman Mia, Yusuf Navlakhi, Omarjee Ahmed Suliman, Mohamed Kola, Abdul Samad Hajari, Ebrahim Vally Bagus, Sayed Ally, Suliman Asmal, Ahmed Adam Jogee and Mohamed Ahmed Choonara.

The first Muslim burial coach in Lenasia was made available by this Trust on December 18, 1968, with burials of deceased person taking place either at the Kliptown or Newclare Cemeteries. Two weeks later, the Himayatul Islam Musjid, commonly known as the Rainbow Valley Mosque, was opened on January 15, 1965. The foundation was laid by (Mufti) Ebrahim Sanjalvi and members of the newly formed Lenasia Muslim Association. The land for the mosque was bought and kindly paid for by Ebrahim Amoojee Loonat. 

Some of its first committee members were Hajee Kolia, Sayed Zainuddin Mia, Hajee Monia and Abdul Majeed Patel. Among the first Imams were (Hafiz) Mohammed Hafejee and Sheikh Ikramuddin from Newclare.

The official opening of the St Thomas’ Parish took place later that year on December 19, 1965. The foundation stone was laid by Cardinal Owen McCann of Cape Town, and Bishop Hugh Boyle officiated at the opening ceremony of the church. The actual origins of the parish can be traced to 1955 in the Old Military Camp, when Father Joseph Lawrence Smith first met with the early residents of Lenasia.

He came across the young Tony Moses, who introduced him to a few Christian families.

Father Smith conducted Mass monthly in Hut No.8, the residence of “Grandma” Lazarus. Other early families linked to the Catholic Church were the James, Moses, Naiker and Reddy families. As the number of congregants grew, the services were moved to the Lenz High School, courtesy of the principal, Mr AJ Francis.

Lenz High also allowed the Anglican Church the use of the premises, while the Nazarenes led Brother Samuel Moonsamy and The Bible Society led by Brother Wright had established a mobile presence in the township.

Father Smith held mass for both the Indian and Sotho communities, who travelled by train each Sunday to attend church services. The sermon was given in English with a translator expounding the Sotho version and the hymns were alternately sung in English and Sotho.

The Shree Vishnu Mandir was first established in 1938 in Sophiatown. With the enforcement of the Group Areas Act, it was forced in 1956 to operate from the residence of Mr H Lalaram in Swallow Street, Lenasia. Eventually a site was acquired in February 1963 at 3 Penguin Street, Lenasia Extension 1.

The construction of the Vishnu Temple commenced in 1969, and the project was completed on  December 28, 1975, when it was officially opened to the public. The committee that oversaw the project was Dr L Shah, Sewbhajan Ajoodha, Ramlal Singh, EL Beharie, Mohan Lalaram and Ramdayal Singh.Residents of Lenasia owe a depth of gratitude to these early religious figures who oversaw the construction of the first places of worship in their respective faith communities.

They had the foresight, the will and fervour to preserve the multi-religious identities of a displaced and oppressed community in Lenasia.

Dr Ismail Vadi is a former ANC MP and MEC for Roads and Transport in Gauteng. Interested persons can contact him on 082 772 3119.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. 

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