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Johannesburg bishop detained under apartheid dies at 89

The Right Revd Mfaniseni Sigisbert Ndwandwe, a former Bishop-Suffragan
of Johannesburg who was detained without trial during the 1980s
uprising against apartheid, has died in Jouberton in North-West
Province. He was 89.

Bishop Ndwandwe was first ordained a priest of the Roman Catholic
Church and earned the degree of Doctor of Canon Law. After he became
an Anglican priest, he and the late Bishop Simeon Nkoane were elected
in 1978 as bishops-suffragan of Johannesburg to assist Bishop Timothy
Bavin.

At that time, the Diocese of Johannesburg stretched from the Swaziland
border in the east to the Botswana border and the Diocese of Kimberley
and Kuruman in the West. Bishop Sigi, as he was fondly known, was
based in Jouberton and served the western part of the Diocese, while
Bishop Simeon served the eastern part.

During the uprising against apartheid which began late in 1984, both
worked with young anti-apartheid activists in their communities and
were subjected to attacks by apartheid forces.

In 1985, they joined Bishop Desmond Tutu, recently enthroned as Bishop
of Johannesburg, and two dozen other priests in an illegal march to
police headquarters in Johannesburg in protest against the detention
of Father Geoff Moselane of Sharpeville. Father Moselane was later
charged with UDF activists in the Delmas treason trial.

In April 1986, Bishop Sigi’s house in Jouberton was fire-bombed. In
response, police arrested him on charges of public violence. They
released him, only to re-arrest him under the Internal Security Act,
then strip-searched him in public and detained him without trial for
99 days on a claim that he had conspired to murder policemen.

He was later named by the then Archbishop Tutu to a panel of four
bishops who were appointed to promote peace during the conflict of the
late 1980s and early 1990s in KwaZulu-Natal.

Bishop Ndwandwe is survived by his wife, Dorcas, his children, Mbuso,
Donald and Angie, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. His
funeral service is at 8 am on Friday May 18 at the Diocesan Centre of
the Diocese of Matlosane.

Source: https://t.co/QavespWnSN

<https://anglicanchurchsa.org/johannesburg-bishop-detained-under-apartheid-dies-at-89/>
--
Steve Hayes
http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
http://khanya.wordpress.com

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