Scientology Volunteer Ministers have volunteered more than a million hours in South Africa in the past year, helping the people of the country survive the pandemic.
South Africa is in a level one lockdown with a general curfew from midnight to 4 a.m. But while the country sleeps, the volunteers dressed in bright yellow jackets over head-to-toe protective gear pull up to the next taxi stand carrying portable fogging equipment and get to work.
One by one, the men and women of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers sanitization team decontaminate every mini-bus taxi overnight so it is ready to provide transportation to the 69 percent of South African commuters who depend on them (including most of the country’s healthcare workers) when they emerge in the morning for their next day’s work.
In the year since President Ramaphosa announced the first lockdown, these volunteers have:
- Clocked more than a million hours of service
- Sanitized 1.1 million vehicles including taxis, ambulances, buses, fire trucks and police cars
- Sanitized 63,000 buildings, including orphanages, senior residences, schools, shelters and other facilities housing essential services.
They swear by the protocols covered in the information on the Scientology How to Stay Well Prevention Resource Center. These booklets and videos are available free of charge in 21 languages including Zulo Sotha and Xhosa—the native languages of nearly half the nation. The volunteers have handed out more than a million copies of Stay Well booklets in the course of their work. And despite putting themselves on the front lines for more than a year, not a single volunteer has been taken ill.
To really appreciate the impact of their work, visit the new interactive timeline on the Scientology website and watch a series of videos, including one that documents the difference they have made to the transportation sector.
One taxi driver shares what it has meant to him to have them sanitize his cab every day and provide him with these booklets so he and his passengers can understand the protocols to keep themselves well. He credits their work with his still being alive. “Corona just passed me,” He says. “I’m still alive, man.”
Another taxi driver says, “they are trying to show us that we are very important…We need them and when they are here, we are happy. Our life is saved…I’m so healthy and good because I’ve got people who care for me.”
The Volunteer Ministers have also taken on sanitizing train stations and fleets of buses.
“In my entire career life,” says an executive in the railroad sector. “I have not actually been contacted by someone who wants to assist government.” Some 300,000 people travel through the Johannesburg station daily and although their crews disinfect and clean, they have not been able to decontaminate them. When she heard that the Scientology volunteers offered to do this, she thought “Is this for real?” And she rushed to the station to see for herself and was amazed to see them performing this service for free.
“You do things with discipline, with commitment and with precision,” says another transportation executive. “That’s what I’ve learned from each one of you. The passion. It will remain with me.”
For more information, visit the Scientology.org interactive timeline, 20/21: A Look Back & A Look Ahead, at scientology.org.za/20-21.
The Scientology Volunteer Ministers of South Africa are headquartered at Kyalami Castle in Midrand, South Africa, which was dedicated on New Year’s Day 2019 by Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige.
