William Masehla
William Masehla | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 21, 1921 Sophiatown, Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Died | July 17, 1983 Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa |
| NSA member | South & West Africa 1956 - 1968 |
| ABM | Africa 1968 - 1976 |
| Counsellor | Southern Africa 1976 - 1980 Africa 1980 - 1983 |
William Mmutle Masehla (February 21, 1921 - July 17, 1983) was a South African Bahá’í who served on the National Spiritual Assembly of South & West Africa and as an Auxiliary Board member and Counselor for Africa.
Biography[edit]
Masehla was born in Sophiatown, Johannesberg, South Africa in 1921. He was raised as a member of St. Peter's Anglican Church and only attended primary school as his family could not afford to send him to High School, instead he became a welder at the age of fifteen. He later worked for a brokerage firm becoming the head of its photocopy and filing department by the time of his passing. He married Daphne Senne on 15 October 1952 and they went on to have six children together.[1]
In 1954 Masehla's sister-in-law introduced him to the Bahá’í Faith and he declared that year and learnt more about the religion from pioneers William and Marguerite Sears. In 1955 his wife also became a Bahá’í and he began travelling to promote the Faith helping to establish it in Lesotho, the Karoo region, the Kalahari, Namibia, rural parts of Transvaal, Botswana and Swaziland. In 1956 he was elected to the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Alexandra and the first National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa. In 1957 he pioneered to Dube (now Soweto) where he was elected to the Dube/Mofolo Local Spiritual Assembly in 1958.[1] As of 1960 he was the recording secretary of the South and West Africa National Assembly.[2]
In 1961 Masehla attended the dedication of the Kampala House of Worship and in 1963 he attended the first International Convention held to elect the Universal House of Justice in the Holy Land and also the World Congress in London afterwards as a National Assembly member, chairing the final session of the World Congress.[3] As of 1964 he was secretary of the South and West Africa National Assembly.[4] In 1968 he was appointed to the Auxiliary Board of Africa stepping down from the South and West Africa Assembly to serve in the role and he served as Auxiliary Board member until being appointed as a Counselor for Southern Africa in 1976.[1]
In 1980 the Universal House of Justice merged the Continental Boards of Counselors for Africa into a single body and introduced five year terms and Masehla was appointed to the body. At some point he was diagnosed with a rare bone disease and acute multiple myeloma but he continued to undertake his duties and attended the International Convention held in April 1983. In July that year he passed away. The Universal House of Justice sent the following message after his passing:
DEEPLY MOURN LOSS OUTSTANDING PROMOTER FAITH WILLIAM MASEHLA. HIS LONG RECORD DEVOTE SERVICES SHEDS IMPERISHABLE LUSTRE ANNALS FAITH SOUTHERN AFRICA. PRAYING SHRINES PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. CONVEY RELATIVES PROFOUND SYMPATHY[5]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 607. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 353, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1963). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 387, Pg(s) 7. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1964). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 401, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 608. View as PDF.
