An appeal from Bishop Christopher Gregorowski (1956G):

Dear Fellow ODs,

          An opportunity has arisen to commemorate a distinguished fellow OD, the late Bishop David Russell (1956F), and I appeal to you to join me in supporting the Eluvukweni appeal and so keeping alive the memory of a remarkable and courageous OD.  

          At present the people of Eluvukweni (which means “Resurrection”) at Crossroads on the Cape Flats are engaged in the development of a centre which will include spaces for community development, education and worship under the auspices of the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town.     

          The project is being energetically led by the Revd Rachel Mash alongside leaders of the local community, who intend to install a plaque commemorating David and his courageous pioneering ministry among the people of Crossroads in the nineteen seventies and eighties before, during and after the time the apartheid authorities attempted the total demolition of homes and the expulsion of the inhabitants to the Transkei and Ciskei “homelands”.

          David matriculated at Bishops in 1956, and after obtaining degrees at UCT and Oxford proceeded as an ordinand to the Anglican Community of the Resurrection’s Mirfield College in Yorkshire, England.  Best known of the CR fathers who ministered and taught there and in Rosettenville, Johannesburg for many years, was the late Fr Trevor Huddleston who was a major influence in David’s calling and witness. 

          David was ordained Deacon in 1965 and priest in 1966, vowing from the beginning that he would side with the oppressed and “lay his body on the line” in his chosen ministry among the Xhosa-speaking victims of apartheid, following in the footsteps of his Lord Jesus Christ the cleanser of the corruption in the precinct of the Temple in Jerusalem, Mahatma Ghandi’s Satyagraha and Martin Luther King’s demonstrations in the USA, all of whom forswore violence in their passionate quest for truth and justice. 

          David began his ministry at St Matthew’s Mission in the Ciskei, for three years immersing himself in painstakingly learning the Xhosa language, idiom and culture until he became a proficient speaker to the delight of those with whom he conversed and and those he addressed.

          At his request the Bishop of Grahamstown/Makhanda appointed him to ministry at Dimbaza township as he chose to work amongst people displaced by the apartheid government from farms and villages in “white” areas, where they were no longer permitted to work.

          During this time in the Ciskei, David was appalled at the meagre R5.00 monthly pension plus R2.58 for rations on which widows were expected to exist.  This was at the height of the apartheid government’s vicious era of bannings, house arrest, imprisonment, torture and deportation.  He wrote to Minister of State MC Botha but his concerns were ignored, so he decided to go public.  He “put his body on the line” with the decision to live for six months on a widow’s meagre pension.  He went to St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, adjacent to Parliament, and kept vigil on a balcony in full view of the public, conveying his message with the help of the media.  HUNGER IS VIOLENCE, his poster read.  He wrote a monthly letter to the minister describing the effects of his fast.  This became national news, the deputy minister agreed to see him, and changes were made to widows’ pensions throughout South Africa.  Later factories were built in Dimbaza and other resettlement areas.  Back in the Ciskei Steve Biko sought him out and the two became close friends and colleagues despite the differences in their respective strategies.         

          In 1973 the Archbishop invited David to Cape Town to be Chaplain to Migrant Workers.  He ministered to men in segregated hostels and to migrants and their families illegally in Cape Town living in informal settlements such as Modderdam, Unibell, Werkgenot and Crossroads.  In 1977, when the Bantu Affairs Administration Board swooped unannounced on Modderdam in the severest of Cape winters, bulldozing the shacks in driving rain, David again “put his body on the line” by lying down in the path of a bulldozer in an attempt to halt the heartless carnage.  He followed the displaced people to assist at St Thomas Church in Rondebosch where for seven weeks they were given temporary refuge from the winter storms.  Another volunteer there was the young Irish Dominican Sister Dorothea, a kindred spirit.  David, avowedly single for the sake of his austere ministry, lost his heart to her and she to him, they were married a few years later and two sons were born to them, Matthew Sipho and Andrew Thabo. 

          David’s activities riled the totalitarian state, and he was frequently summonsed to Court, and when he dared to write a scathing pamphlet detailing the way in which the security forces were encouraging and arming the notorious Witdoeke to cause mayhem in the  townships he was banned in October 1977, together with other trouble-makers such as Beyers Naudé and Theo Kotze of the Christian Institute.  Standing up to the Special Branch of the security police had been the final straw. 

          As Chaplain to Migrant Workers David visited Crossroads informal settlement where residents joined him in erecting a wood and iron building for worship and community events, a school for the local children and the SACLA Clinic run by Dr Ivan Toms, founded under the auspices of the South African Christian Leadership Assembly.  Russell and Toms were close colleagues with a shared vision.  When the demolition squad moved in to destroy the homes and infrastructure in Crossroads, David led hundreds of displaced residents to St George’s Cathedral where they remained for weeks while the battle to save Crossroads was being waged.  It was then that the congregation decided on the name “Eluvukweni” because they believed that their church and community would rise from the dead — as it has.

          David was elected Suffragan Bishop of St John’s (Mthatha) in 1986 and Bishop of Grahamstown in 1987, where he remained until his retirement in 2004.  His role in the struggle for a democratic South Africa was recognised by the new regime with the award of the Order of the Baobab in Silver in 2011.  He died on 17th August 2014, aged 75.

          Donations towards the completion of the Eluvukweni place of worship, education, school feeding and community building may be made to:                                

Eluvukweni Anglican Church,

Standard Bank 070064636 051001

SBZAZAJJ.

Reference: David Russell.

The people of Eluvukweni have raised R2.9 million so far, and a further R650 000 is required to complete the project.  Your help will be gratefully accepted.

          With my best wishes,

          Christopher Gregorowski (G1956).