Lulamile Feni

encounter that enabled her to evangelise and subsequently birth what has become the now powerful Indaba Zosindiso prayer movement.

For almost 14 years, Paul worked hard for God and in his name prayed for the sick to be healed and for infertile women to bear children.

Her mantra was “love each other and pray together”. Paul evangelised throughout the Transkei, preaching hope and faith. Her teachings were based on the principles and values enshrined in the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. She preached only God had healing powers. Bizana said Paul taught people to be valuable members of their respective churches.

“The once distraught people who never knew about God saw God’s power through Mrs Paul and went to church. Church halls started filling up with ‘unlikely disciples’, a phenomenon that continues to this day,” Bizana said.

Among their friends the Pauls counted AbaThembu King Sabata Dalindyebo who later died in exile in Lusaka. The three – Paul, her husband and Dalindyebo – are to be seen in one of the two popular and only available photographs of Paul.

Her passion for people did not endear her to everyone, however. Paul endured harassment from the apartheid police. She and her husband were victims of a forced removal when the apartheid government banished coloureds from Tsolo. The couple moved to Kokstad, but Paul refused to be daunted and continued with her healing ministry travelling from Kokstad to Tsolo daily.

Another of the difficulties she had to bear was the scepticism about her in some traditional church circles. It is said even the Anglican Church had doubts about her.

However, the church (Anglican) later came to understand Paul’s calling and in 1964 Bishop James Schuster formally commissioned her to continue with her ministry. The church stated it was her gift of healing through supplication to the Holy Spirit that drew huge crowds.

In fact, so profound was Paul’s impact that a recent synod of bishops of the Anglican Church agreed to include Paul in their liturgical calendar, with her feast day being May 13 – a day before the anniversary of her death.

“Although we honour many saints who were canonised by the Catholic Church we don’t canonise but honour our heroines and heroes by including them in our liturgical calendar,” the church magazine’s editor wrote.

In a submission calling for Paul’s inclusion in the calendar, Robert Tushana wrote although her preaching and healing attracted people from all denominations and her service embraced choruses and dancing with a broad appeal, Paul strongly resisted any urge to launch her own sect. Instead, she always encouraged people to attend their own respective churches. Tushana said Paul was obedient to Anglican doctrine and faithful to God until the end. In 1964 her life was cut short tragically. Paul was involved in a fatal accident near Bechuana on the N2 between Mt Ayliff and Kokstad on April 4 1964. She was buried in the Tsolo cemetery seven days later.

Nobody succeeded her as spiritual leader of Indaba Zosindiso because her followers believe she was the only chosen one and she continues leading the movement in spirit, hence they still believe in her healing powers.

In 1975 the Pauls’ property in Tsolo was bought by the Dlwatis, a business family from Ngcobo who were followers.

After their death, their daughter Sindiswa Dlwati inherited the estate. In 1988 she was elected chairwoman of the committee which oversees the running of Indaba Zosindiso and became the property manager.

She said the prayer movement had grown from strength to strength with the membership spanning all the provinces of South Africa.

The eight-corned special prayer room where Paul had her spiritual encounter 62 years ago still stands – the venue of prayer meetings every morning, afternoon and evening across the denominational divide.

Elizabeth Paul may not be present in the flesh but the flame she lit 62 years ago continues to burn brightly in Tsolo.

Unlike other faith healers, Paul, according to Bizana, did not lay hands on people, instead she encouraged them to pray to God for themselves and she prayed with them.

Indaba Zosindiso is synonymous with amarhewu – a traditional South African non-alcoholic drink made from fermented mealies.

But members of Indaba Zosindiso differ on the importance of amarhewu . Some claim amarhewu was brewed by Paul to heal those who were sick. But many claimed she brewed it only to feed those