East Barnet Baptist Church 

Crescent Road 

East Barnet 

Hertfordshire 

EN4 8PS 

Soweto

Orlando Baptist Church, Soweto

This is one of the recent projects supported by the Mission Fund of EBBC, through Kehla Miya, a member of our church. He writes:

PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS FOR THE COMMUNITY

The projects and programmes initiated by, or linked to the Social Development Desk of Orlando Baptist Church are intended to be the arm of this church in addressing some of the pressing needs of our Soweto community (HIV AIDS pandemic, poverty, unemployment, lack of skills, ignorance, etc). In return, it is expected that part of the annual budget of Orlando Baptist Church will be met by donations from these projects and programmes. Following is a list and brief profile of these:

A. EXISTING

1. Imbuyiselo Sewing Project

This project was started about five years ago within Orlando Baptist Church. It started as one of the three sewing programmes supported by Dorcas Aid Southern Africa (an internationally linked relief and aid project), initiated and run by three Baptist Churches in Soweto.

Through Dorcas Aid Southern Africa, used sewing machines and pieces of materials were donated to assist unemployed women within the church to get basic training in sewing and designing, with the view of empowering them to start their own micro or small businesses.

Later on, through the leadership of Rev Michael Mathibedi and his wife, Joyce Mathibedi, this programme was able to operate a small factory next to the training school. Through the marketing skills of Rev Mathibedi, contracts from the public, private and social sectors were secured to produce various small items such as handbags, designed and printed for special occasions. Income from the small factory helped to sustain the training programme, and to support the elderly women in the church – who in turn paid tithes to the church.

This programme is now formalized and legalized to be a non-profit making organization (NPO). It has a constitution, managing structure, and is registered with the Department of Social Services and Population Development.

The challenge facing Orlando Baptist Church is to further developing systems with this project, and link it up with other similar projects and programmes within Soweto – forming a consortium in order to access bigger funding from the public and private sectors within South Africa. This project has the potential of creating more jobs for the unemployed, not only within the church, but also within the larger community of Soweto.

2. VRS Home Economics School

Orlando Baptist Church is currently formalising links with VRS Training School which provides multi-services in Gauteng province, and also caters for students across the country. Sam Mogatla and his wife , Rosemond Mogatla, came out of the township life of poverty, discrimination and racism under apartheid laws. This couple, drawn by a vision of addressing the lack of skills within the larger population of South Africa, started this Business Management and Skills Training programme (VRS).

The focus of VRS Training School is on the development and capacitation of human resources in the catering, dressmaking and flower arranging training industry. VRS, registered as a close corporation (cc), believes that the national framework for the development of skills and technical capacity provides a sound basis for the implementation of education and training programmes which will lead towards higher levels of qualification and competence.

VRS recently became one of the most preferred providers of wedding and birthday cakes around Soweto, with virtually no marketing effort.

Sam Mogatla says: “Our students come as far as Lesotho and Swaziland for the past ten years, netting us an income of R8 000-00 per month. Sales of flowers, cakes, and clothing have added to this total and could potentially add much more.”

The interest of Orlando Baptist Church in this project is to, again, link VRS to bigger companies through public, private and social partnerships using the infrastructure provided by Bonesa Khanya Project – another creation from Orlando Baptist Church, so that the unemployed youth within Soweto churches can benefit through the training provided by the VRS Home Economic School.

3. Bonesa Khanya Project

Bonesa Khanya Project (BKP) was started as a food distribution programme during the month of November 2001 within Orlando Baptist Church, through the approach of the Pan African Christian Women Alliance (PACWA), an internationally linked Christian Women Organisation that has been in existence in South Africa for over ten years.

Through the coordination of the now presiding pastor of Orlando Baptist Church, Rev David Mkwayi, a data-base of over 30 000 people, the poor of the poorest in Soweto, was established through the assistance of volunteering individuals coming out of various church groups around Soweto, working together with volunteers from the Social Development Services Sector (Local Government) of Soweto Region 6.

A management committee was established to link this process with the rest of Soweto (Soweto is part of Region 6 and 10 of Greater Johannesburg). Operational systems were quickly put in place to distribute what was then believed to be already in the country, and ready for distribution, a huge consignment of food (dehydrated potato powder, virgin coconut oil, seed grain) from the United States of America (USA), earmarked for the poor of the poorest in our communities.

This food distribution pilot programme with PACWA did not materialize. It turned out that all the informationgiven to BKP was not true. No food had arrived in South Africa for distribution. When food did not arrive as promised – BKP started investigating PACWA, only to discover that this organization was being used by a small-time, white-controlled, investment syndicate operating from a private house in one of the privileged suburbs of Johannesburg – all for private gain. It so happened that a deal made with an individual in the USA who promised to ship over to South Africa a huge consignment of food for distributing had fallen through, causing this syndicate to lose a substantial amount of money invested in this venture.

The management committee of BKP decided to move on from this negative experience and formalize this project by setting up an executive committee which was tasked to produce a constitution document and proceed to legalize the structure by seeking registration with the Social Development Department as a Non-Profit Organization (NPO).

BKP is now a truly registered NPO, ready to participate meaningfully in the poverty alleviation efforts within Soweto and beyond, together with other stakeholders. BKP is now seeking exemption from income tax in terms of Section 10(1), or approval in terms of Section 18A of the Income Tax Act, No. 58 of 1962. Tax benefits are important for companies that support Social and Development Projects and Programmes.

Bonesa Khanya has been reformed as an enabling structure that provides or facilitates public, private and social partnerships around already existing projects. Through engaging the leadership of the targeted project or programme, outcome-driven strategic objectives are realized jointly for the benefit of both the project and Bonesa Khanya. Thereafter, a programme of action is put in place to identify stakeholdership around funding and other resources – for each project or programme adopted by Bonesa Khanya.

BKP is now operating from a leased office in Yeoville, Johannesburg – within the headquarters of the Baptist Convention of Sourthern Africa (BCSA). Beginning of June 2003, a qualified projects manager has been engaged on a volunteering basis to set up the administration office of BKP.

B. BEING PLANNED

1. Brick-Making Project

The objective of this project is to promote, create employment opportunities, generate income and skills development, as well as encourage entrepreneurship.

This project will be established and run as a business. The project will belong to Orlando Baptist Church under the Social Development Programme, but run as an independent entity

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