She may end up marrying a white man’

Press, 1 September 1986, Page 10

She may end up marrying a white man’

NZPA-AP Johannesburg Members of an Afrikaner church are circulating a petition protesting against the admission of a six-year-old black girl into the white congregation, “The Citizen” newspaper reports. Emella Sedibe has lived with her white fos-ter-parents on a farm near Krugersdcrp, about 32 km west of Johannesburg, since her mother was committed to a mental hospital when she was two months old. Protests against Emeiia’s presence at the Dutch Reformed Church In Rant-en-Dal arose earlier this year, then eased after the church council decided to let her attend the services. “The Citizen” said four church members had begun circulating a petition

seeking to reverse the council’s decision. ? "The Citizen” quoted one of the drafters of the petition, Jan Bolt, as saying the council bad not consulted the ZHb-mem-ber congregation before breaking a long-standing church tradition of whites-only membershin. “She (Emelia) does not even know her own language and does not mix with her own race,” Mr Bolt said. “She is a lost person in a white world. What will happen to her when she grows up? Because she only knows one way of life, she may end up marrying a white man.” At least five families have left the church because of Emeiia’s presence. Mr Bolt was quoted as saying the total could reach 60 families.