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	Numsa Supports Suspended Verryn The Star January 28, 2010 http://www.thestar.co.za/?fSectionId=493&fArticleId=nw20100128163001801C456603 Metalworkers' union Numsa on Thursday came out in full support of suspended Johannesburg Central Methodist Church Bishop Paul Verryn. "The Numsa notes with serious concern the personal and venomous offensive attack... directed towards Bishop Paul Verryn," the union's spokesman Castro Ngobese said in a statement. The union was suspicious that the attack "being lurched (sic) against Verryn forms part of the broader agenda to discredit his personal and social standing in society". Verryn was suspended after he was charged with transgressing the constitution of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. He is due to face a disciplinary hearing on February 1. "The bourgeois media has been co-opted consciously or unconsciously to prosecute Bishop Verryn through public opinion," Ngobese claimed. Verryn was a hero and champion for social justice, peace, solidarity and equality. Ngobese said this was underpinned by Verryn's long voluntary work and outstanding efforts to help and accommodate the "daughters and sons of garden boys and kitchen girls from across our borders". Ngobese said Numsa would study the merits and the demerits of the charges levelled against Verryn as part of soliciting a solid response and view. "Numsa will continue working with Bishop Verryn as part of making sure our brothers and sisters who have been displaced through xenophobic attacks and forced migration to South Africa, enjoy equal rights with their South African counterparts." The Central Methodist Church has given refuge to a number of Zimbabwean immigrants. It has been at the centre of controversy involving the situation of woman and children. There have been allegations of sexual abuse. A children's rights lawyer has been appointed to look after their interests. Last October, the Gauteng legislature's health and social development portfolio committee called for the closure of the church. - Sapa
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