THE BATTLE to justify the need to close down the Central Methodist Church took a dramatic turn yester­day, with a member of the Gauteng Legislature claiming she had wit­nessed minors having sex in the premises.

Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, chair­woman of the province's safety and security committee, shocked a meet­ing held to map a way forward for the possible closure of the building when she revealed she had seen "some kids having sex publicly with their boyfriends in the church".

This, she said, happened during her unannounced and disguised visits to the church, where she further claimed she had been asked to pay R5 at the door to gain access to the building.

But Nkosi-Malobane, whose com­mittee has oversight on law and order in the province, could not tell the meeting whether the incident had been reported to the police.

"There is so much crime that is happening in the church," she said. "Members of the church are also com­plaining about this to us because they feel unsafe there."

The meeting held in the legislature was part of a process started by the provincial committee on health and social development a week ago to con­sider the possible closure of the refugee centre. NGOs, church representatives, politicians and child welfare organisa­tions bickered throughout about who was to blame for the situation at the church.

The church's representative, Kim Alexander, asked whether people thought "God cares more about a building than people" as more ques­tions were raised about the conditions in which children were forced to live.

"I have not seen the government trying to help the people living the church all these years," she said.
"The church is indebted by over a million rands in water and electricity bills. Where has everybody been for the past three years? South Africa has failed these people."

Godfrey Charamba, the chairman of the church community, said many refugees living in the church trusted Bishop Paul Verryn more than any­body, and that if they were moved, they would like him to be involved.
This prompted one of the represen­tatives of the NGOs, Susan Black, to claim she smelt a "cult in this unconditional love for Verryn".

The meeting agreed to set up a task team that would intervene in the prob­lems arising out of the church and en­sure that children are moved out of the premises as a matter of urgency
Verryn could not attend the meet­ing because, according to his lawyer Jason Brickhill, he was committed to chairing a previously arranged meeting at the church.

THABISO THAKALI