Cape Town - The roof of a historic Cape Town church building is about to get a major facelift, after suffering leaks of many winters. Considered the most significant Anglican church in the country, St George’s Cathedral still needs R11-million more in funding to sustain its heritage status.
This, despite a R7.5m donation last year from the National Lottery and a shipment of 60 000 roof tiles from England.
This week, Reverend Michael Weeder, the Dean of the Cathedral, explained that cheaper options would affect the building’s heritage feel. Asked how long they would sustain importing these tiles, Weeder said the church had gone for long periods without maintaining the roof. “We were distracted by other things over the years; we could have done better in terms of maintaining the church.”
He added that the church intends to be green-sensitive. On Friday the cathedral will host a service in which all the workers on site will be blessed and anointed. There will be a braai afterwards.
The church also plans to invite Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus Njongonkulu Ndungane and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba when the tiles arrive, when they will have a service for commencement of work. Makgoba and Weeder will be elevated to the top of the roof to bless the building and the tiles.
He said last year’s tile fund-raiser had a limited effect and the church had “consistent technical problems” with the site designers.
Weeder appealed to people from all walks of life to make donations.