Scientology in Africa: Five Years of Unconditional Help Since the Religion's New Year's Day Grand Opening

With the COVID lockdown and its extraordinary challenges, Scientology headquarters at Castle Kyalami became known as the nation’s headquarters for help

On the bright South African New Year’s Day in 2019, when Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige dedicated the Scientology Advanced Organization and continental headquarters for Africa at Castle Kyalami, “COVID” was an obscure term known only to scientists and public health workers. But it soon entered the world’s vocabulary when the first cases of the virus appeared. COVID-19 arrived in South Africa in March 2020 and the country went into lockdown.

 

Castle Kyalami coordinated the pandemic response of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers. Their dedication and hard work established the Scientology Volunteer Ministers among the heroes who made all the difference for the nation.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers sanitized police, fire, ambulance and paramedic vehicles, police and emergency service facilities, nearly 100,000 government facilities, and more than 11 billion square feet of spaces, train stations and whole fleets of buses. And some 14,000 taxis every day.

“The work that they’ve done, it is work that I’ll never forget,” said the executive mayor of Rand City West. “You came at a time when we were very terrified...fighting an enemy we can’t even see. This ministry and this team thought of us. It’s huge, the work you’ve done... Your presence reminds us that somebody cares about us.”

The Volunteer Ministers inspired a grassroots movement. South African stakeholders, including government officials, religious leaders, police, educators and entrepreneurs, trained as Volunteer Ministers at Castle Kyalami. They are among the more than 25,000 South Africans who are helping in their communities having completed the 19 Scientology Tools for Life courses, available in 20 languages, including Sotho, Zulu, and Xhosa, free of charge through the Scientology website. These courses provide training on the technology developed for the program by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard.

For the full impact of South African Volunteer Ministers’ response over the past five years, watch the new feature-length documentary Operation: Do Something About It. Produced by Scientology Media Productions, the film is available on the Scientology Network on DIRECTV Channel 320, DIRECTV STREAM, AT&T U-verse, and streams at Scientology.tv, on mobile apps, and via the Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV platforms.