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Hurley's Legacy Lives on
 Social outreach programmes from the Denis Hurley Centre have helped thousands since the beginning of the year - says co-ordinator Paddy Kearney
21 March 1960 - the day 69 people were shot at Sharpeville - marked one of the all-time lows in South Africa's apartheid era.
Police opened fire on an unarmed crowd of thousands gathered at the Sharpeville police station for a non-violent protest against the pass laws. Most of those killed were found to have been shot in the back as they ran to escape.
Appalled by the events of that day; the then Archbishop of Durban - Denis Hurley - said the Sharpeville shootings were 'a clear indication of a breakdown of understanding between white and black South Africans which could lead to far worse things if not remedied in time'.
Sharpeville made him acutely aware of the need to work for human rights - a cause to which he increasingly devoted himself ... becoming one of apartheid's most outspoken opponents.
Last Sunday the Denis Hurley Centre at Emmanuel Cathedral marked Human Rights Day at a public meeting which also commemorated the sixth anniversary of Hurley's death.
A diverse group of leading public figures was introduced as patrons of the centre - including Cardinal Wilfrid Napier OFM; DUT Chancellor Ela Grandhi; the Anglican Bishop of Natal Rubin Phillip; former Methodist President Reverend Dr Khoza Mgojo; SABC chairman Dr Ben Ngubane; Judge Leona Theron; the Juma Musji Trust chariman; advocate AB Mahomed SC; and Tongaat-Hulett chairman JB Magwaza. Special tribute was paid to Professor Fatima Meer who had also agreed to be a patron but who died on March 12.
The centre's key aim is to provide an enabling environment for care ... education ... and community. Social outreach is the focus of five agencies in the centre which work closely with one another - namely: The Refugee Pastoral Care; The Nkosinathi (God is with us) Project which assists homeless and unemployed people; The Usizo Lwethu (our help) Clinic; the Justice and Peace Office; and The St Vincent de Paul Society which provides food parcels; blankets and clothing to destitute families.
'Archbishop Hurley's passion for serving the poor and working for justice has inspired our efforts' says Emmanuel Catherdral's Fr Stephen Tully.
'The Cathedral is situated in the midst of God's neglected people in the city of Durban - a spiritual sanctuary for less fortunate people of whatever religion. But we need to be more than a sanctuary of prayer. We are called to make human rights a reality for all our people. That is what the Denis Hurley Centre is about.'
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