A SHORT HISTORY OF SACRED HEART CHURCH IN ACKERVILLE, WITBANK - EMALAHLENI
3. From 1950 to 1960:The Growth of Sacred Heart Church
From 1950 onwards the missionaries began to reside at Driefontein Mission, beginning with the arrival of Fr Francis Morscher whom the people nicknamed Magijimane because he did things thoroughly , like one who is always running. He was the first one to put up a fence arround the mission property in order to keep out the stray cattle and donkeys. He also built a road from the mission to the Pretoria - Witbank main road. He cleared much of the ground and planted trees and cultivated vegetables which were irrigated from water of the nearby dam. The children of the mission used to love swimming in the dam.
The five primary schools were functioning very well with a total of 1656 pupils and 25 teachers. One of the most well known teachers was the late Domitilla Dlamini. She used to stay at Maloma School and taught there for 30 years. In spite of her meagre salary - the result of the Apartheid government's Education Act which withdrew support from the Catholic Schools - she was an example of great generosity. She was a daily communicant and a Tertiary of St Francis. As a sign of the Church's appreciation she was awarded the " Pro Ecclesia and Pontifice " medal. Many of these teachers have passed away to their eternal reward. The late Mama Mlangeni used to be the cook at the school.
There were now about 1400 Catholics in the parish and the associations, which included the Alter Boys Guild and the Burial Society, continued to grow in the Holy Spirit and numbers. The Church choir had also grown and was now being led by school principal, the late Mr Leonard Ntshuntshe and assisted by another teacher Mr Joseph Sihlabela.
Because of the increasing demands of the outstations (the small Catholic communities living in the farms and coal- mining areas), Fr Francis was assisted by Fr Heinrich ( 1950 - 52) and later by Fr Rauch. Brother Anthony came to cook and look after the cattle and poultry.
Fr Francis and his " soldiers" ( the boys who were boarding at the mission) built the toilets for the school. They also built the convent for the three religious sisters who came from Austria to help with the missionary work. There was great rejoicing when the Austrian sisters arrived and the school children sang and danced at the top of their voices. During the feast days Fr Francis used to play the church organ.
Mrs Mnisi, who is one of the older members of St Anne's Association today,relates that near the old cemetery next to the Zenzele Undertakers, there used to be a road going all the way to the town of Witbank. This was a very popular road especially with the school children who used to walk many kilometers to Maloma School every day. The mission cattle used to be kept where Mpondozankomo is now situated. She also remembers that uMagijimane used to take his "soldiers" to the Zoo in Pretoria and Johannesburg during the school holidays. Holy Mass used to be celebrated every morning at 6 o'clock and Benediction used to be said every Wednesday at 6 pm. The late Paulos Nkosi used to teach the boys how to serve at Mass. Fr Klemm took over from Fr Francis in 1956 until 1960.
Sacred Heart History