Stephen’s goal! Mosaic for anti-apartheid church

Published: 03 June 2010
by CHARLIE HODD

A DEFIANT anti-apartheid mosaic mural portraying a black Jesus surrounded by a multicultural group of disciples has been unveiled at the Anglican Church of Christ the King in Sophiatown, Johannesburg.

Its commission can be put down to the sole efforts of Holborn businessman Stephen Hargrave. 

The church held strong as apartheid raged around it. Between 1955 and 1963 Sophiatown was all but erased from the map as its buildings were destroyed and its black residents driven out. 

Miraculously the church survived but its heritage was literally whitewashed as its beautiful interior and mural was painted over and forgotten. 

Fast-forward 43 years and step forward Mr Hargrave, a man with a vision to recreate bonds  between Britain and Johannesburg, particularly appropriate given the impending World Cup in South Africa. 

The decision to commission the new mural came after he made a chance visit to the church when he was in the country last year. 

Mr Hargrave said: “I’m a big fan of Johannesburg, a city I which I feel is terribly underrated.

“I saw the bare buildings and the photographs, and I just thought something ought to be done,” said Mr Hargrave this week after the “fantastic” unveiling ceremony attended by the British High Commissioner to South Africa, Dr Nicola Brewer. 

Designed by Malawian artist Bon Chandiyamba, the new mosaic also depicts Christ and his disciples clad in contemporary dress, another ambitious feature of the commission which Mr Hargrave hopes will further unite the residents of Sophiatown which still suffers the legacy of the apartheid regime.