Hundreds of members of the Lemba Cultural Association (LCA), coming from all corners of the country, gathered at Sweetwaters Farm near Elim on Saturday for the historic opening of the association’s new conference hall.

The hall is a significant milestone for the LCA, an association that was established in 1948. It represents the Lemba community, who are often referred to as the “Black Jews” because of their historic links to the Jewish culture. The LCA is based in Limpopo, where the majority of the Lemba community resides.

According to the general secretary of the association, Mr Phineas Malima, this is a dream come true and reason to celebrate. “After 74 years, we are in a new dawn. All our events, including annual conferences, used to be held either in tents or in the open,” he said.

He recalled the day, 13 February 2019, when the project to complete the hall started. Without proper building materials and with limited funds, they had to make do with whatever was available. Malima praised the LCA executives for being committed and focused during this process.

“We didn’t have a budget, but we contributed money to the association from the little we had for our own families,” said Malima. The hall was eventually built at an estimated cost of half a million rand. This, according to Malima, is just the start of a much bigger dream. “We want to see a new small town for our children and grandchildren,” he said.

The internationally acclaimed professor Rudo Mathivha was guest speaker at the official opening of the venue. Prof Mathivha is an intensive-care medicine specialist at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Johannesburg.

“The hall structure actually went up in 1992, when we laid the foundation, [and put up the] frames and the roof. But we could not finish [the project] due to a number of constraints which were mainly finances. In 2019, before the Covid-19 lockdown, we decided to start again and pushed, because a lot of our elders had passed on,” she said.

Prof Mathivha said that they wanted to remain significant in pursuing their culture. “The vision was to build a Lemba cultural centre consisting of a community hall, school, museum, a temple and ablution blocks. We want to have a Hebrew school, but also a functional academic school, accommodation facilities and a hotel to generate income,” she said.

The association’s president, Pandelani Mutenda, said the completion of the venue was a milestone in the Lembas’ nationwide history. “I acknowledged that it was not by my power and the executive, but God who intervened in making us united to finish building this venue. Today, I am one of the happiest people on earth because our centre conference hall is finally open,” he said.