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For many years the Anglican Church’s Tumelong Mission has served people in and around Tshwane, but now shortage of funds has forced it to retrench severely.
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‘I give the assurance before God that the (Tumelong) Mission is not closing, that no one has been dismissed and that there is no threat to any of those we assist.”
This was Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Pretoria Dr Joe Seoka’s categorical assurance at the weekend when he rubbished reports that the Tumelong Mission’s hospice and children’s haven in Winterveld were no longer in operation.
But an on-site visit on Tuesday by the Pretoria News revealed the contrary - the two institutions have indeed been closed and abandoned.
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Seoka, Tumelong Mission’s governing body chairperson, recently insisted both the hospice and haven were still open.
But according to documents in the Pretoria News’ possession, all 70 employees have been retrenched.
Part of the retrenchment letter written to each employee reads: “Tumelong Mission relies on donation and grants, especially from the government, Lotto and major companies, to carry out its work.
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Hat-tip to Fr David Macgregor for the link.
Both David Macgregor and I were at one stage involved with the ministry of Tumelong Mission in the 1980s, and are saddened that it has had to cut back its work so severely. It appears that one of the problems is that NGOs like Tumelong have come to rely on sources of finance like Lotto, which have proved to be very unreliable sources, especially for continuing expenses like staff salaries.
There is another site which allows people to make donations to the work of Tumelong, but before doing so it would be wise to check and see that the work of Tumelong is continuing. The contradictory reports in the media do not inspire confidence.
More information about the Tumelong Mission is available at:
Apparently the Pretoria News has today published a statement by Bishop Joe Seoka, but for the moment it is only available to subscribers to the newspaper.
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