Walmer Township Community

St Bernadette's Parish includes the area known as Gqebera, or more commonly, the "Walmer Township". During the apartheid regime, the government forced non-whites to move to areas outside the city. Since the white community in the Walmer area preferred their domestic workers living closer by, as an alternative to 30 km outside town, Gqebera developed and now houses more than 65.000 people.

Compared to other townships, Gqebera is, because of its location, an easily accessible area and considerably closer to the city than other townships. Nevertheless, Gqebera is a very poor area and faces many challenges, including unemployment, crime, and a high incidence of HIV and AIDS.

A Catholic community has always existed in Gqebera and in fact has produced vocations to the priesthood. Because of the proximity to St Bernadette's, most parishioners in the past attended Mass at St Bernadette's, but as the numbers have grown, so has the need for a church in Gqebera. Currently Mass is celebrated in Xhosa (the local African language) at 11:00 on Sundays at the home of one of the parishioners. It is hoped that within the next couple of years a church and community centre can be built for this growing community.

For information on how you could assist this growing community, contact Fr Gregory via the Parish Office.