Tembisa loses a true community builder

On January 11, the Tembisa community lost a woman who had been in the forefront of the township’s nation-building projects.

Lady Archbishop Nthabiseng Pauline Mokoena (66) first arrived in Tembisa in the early 1980s and immediately immersed herself in the township’s community building projects.

In the 80s when township men’s hostels were converted from male single-sex dormitories and used instead as family units to serve the whole community, Mokoena established in the area a church she called The Star Philadelphia Apostolic Church to serve the worshipping Tembisa community.

Reflecting on her mother’s death, her daughter Mmabatho Mokoena said her mother was a spiritual person who answered to her call of being a prophet.

“Our mother was hardly home as she travelled all over the country practising spiritual healing to the sick and the needy. She was also a very strict church leader who also took part in other community-based projects that sought to empower women in the township,” said Mmabatho.

In the 1980s, says Mmabatho, her mother became an active member of Gandaganda, a women’s organisation that dealt with women issues through prayer.

Community member Vuyo Maseko said the community of Tembisa has lost a great community builder who was also a woman of God.

“She was very humble and always ready to help the community. The congregants will be stranded in the absence of LadyArchbishop Mokoena,” said Maseko.

He said Mokoena was always a woman of God, even before she had established her own church.

“She was a church member in other churches, but eventually decided to answer her own vocation of spiritual healing and thereafter established The Star Philadelphia Apostolic Church which served the community of Tembisa until her death,” Maseko said.

The church has a branch in the Vaal where Mokoena spent time administering the word of God.

“In 1993 the Lady Archbishop Mokoena established a creche, responding to the plight of needy families in Temong Section. Our mother decided to lend a helping hand, collecting children in the area and taking care of them,” Mmabatho reminisced.

Mokoena is survived by two daughters and eight grandchildren.

“We will remember our mother for her stern demeanour. There are a lot of lessons she taught us when we encountered life’s problems.

“The community has lost a good person because she was an accessible person to the needy.

“She had a sense of humour. She was not only strict to her own children, but she was also strict to her congregants under her leadership,” Mmabatho said.