Sr Dominica Mkhize: This is My Vocation
The Sister who jointly runs the daily affairs of the SACBC attributes her vocation to the influence of a devout grandmother, as Sr Dominica Mkhize told Daluxolo Moloantoa.
A common feature among many Catholics, especially in black communities, is the pivotal influence of grandmothers in the nurturing of children’s faith. So it was with Sr Dominica Mkhize FSF, the current associate secretary-general of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC).
She was born the second child of Solanus and Albina MaMemela Mkhize on April 27, 1959, in Mkhumbane, now called Chesterville, on Durban’s west side. At birth, she was given the Zulu name of Thandiwe (meaning “the loved one”). She was baptised with the name Theresa.
Mkhumbane was a temporary residential area at the time, with the families living there waiting to be allocated houses in Umlazi township, which was still under construction in south-western Durban. “We were among the first families to be allocated a house in Umlazi,” Sr Dominica recalled in an interview with The Southern Cross.
Raised by grandmother
Her mother died at the early age of 36, when Thandiwe was only five years old. Her father remarried and went on to have five more children. After her mother’s death, she and her two siblings went to live with her paternal grandmother, Natalia Mkhize, in Mhlabatshane, a missionary-founded settlement about 145km south-west of Pietermaritzburg.
”We grew up in the presence, love and care of our grandmother. She brought us up with a very strong sense of love and warmth, intentionally in substitution of our late mother,” Sr Dominica recalled.
“My grandmother was a very staunch Catholic. She wanted to become a religious Sister herself, and some time in the 1930s she joined a religious congregation. However, her time in the novitiate was cut short. Her older brother was against the idea of her becoming a nun, and he made her quit. For black families at the time, the idea of a young woman going away and not becoming a wife was still strange. So her older brother went to fetch her from the convent.”
Instead of living a consecrated life, Mrs Mkhize channelled her faith towards building a strong foundation for her grandchildren. “My grandmother believed in prayer wholeheartedly. For her, it was like breathing. She would pray about everything. Even when drinking a cup of water, she would make the sign of the cross. These are some of the short prayers my siblings and I picked up from her, and still practise up to this day,” Sr Dominica said.
The future Sister attended Mhlabatshane Primary School, a Catholic mission school run by the Daughters of St Francis of Assisi (FSF). “During the Month of the Rosary in October, the entire school would make a procession, praying the rosary from the school to the mission grotto, where we would end by singing songs dedicated to Mother Mary,” Sr Dominica said.
She was also engaged in the Church’s community life as a member of the Children of Mary. The stories of her grandmother and her yearning to become a religious Sister were slowly capturing the girl’s heart.
Pulled from school
“It was around that time when my father informed me that my schooling would come to an end after I completed my Standard 4, today’s Grade 6. He felt that I had acquired enough education at that point. He said that I was equipped with the ability to read and to write, and that was enough education for a young girl. That was the mentality of many Zulu parents of the time. They harboured a strong belief that a woman’s place was in taking care of the household and the children — and nothing else beyond that,” Sr Dominica said.
After she left school, Thandiwe joined the local girls and women working as dressmakers in the mission’s sewing workshop, which was run by the Solano Sisters, a congregation from Germany, who were also present at the mission. She also became the mission church’s sacristan.
By then Thandiwe had made the decision to become a religious Sister, to live out the call her grandmother had been prevented from following. “Each time I reflect on my vocation, I cannot help but say that this is my grandmother’s vocation, and I am fulfilling her wish,” Sr Dominica said.
Entering religious life
Consultations were made with the mission’s parish priest and the Daughters of St Francis of Assisi, and in 1978 she joined the congregation at the convent in Oshabeni, near Port Shepstone. There, she was given the opportunity to complete her schooling, first at Mangquzuka Secondary School in Oshabeni and then at St Francis College in Mariannhill, where she passed with a matric exemption in 1984.
“It was only then that my attention was turned towards my proper formation as a religious Sister. I went to the novitiate in 1985 and made my first profession at the beginning of 1987 in Port Shepstone,” Sr Dominica said.
After she made her first profession, she taught in one of the schools that were run by the congregation in Port Shepstone, filling in for a Sister who was in further training at the time. In 1988, Sr Dominica completed a secretarial course in Durban, and the following year was assigned to her congregation’s administration — and that of the diocese of Mariannhill. “I would focus on the diocesan work during the week and turn my attention to the congregation’s work over weekends.”
Soon she worked fulltime for the Diocese of Mariannhill, staying for ten years. During that time she took up studies in theology through the University of Southern Africa (Unisa), and later upgraded her studies for a degree in psychology. After she completed her honours degree in psychology in 2003, Sr Dominica was asked to work in the formation ministry of her congregation.
In 2011 she was elected superior-general of her congregation, serving in this position until 2021.
Call from the bishops
She had just completed a three-week course in catechetics at the Lumko Institute in Benoni, Gauteng, in early February 2023, when her congregation’s superior broke unexpected news: the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference wished to appoint Sr Dominica as its new associate secretary-general, the second-highest position in the conference’s offices in Khanya House, Pretoria.
“Saying ‘yes’ to my appointment felt almost the same as when I said ‘yes’ to my calling to the religious life,” Sr Dominica said. “It was not a decision that lay entirely on my shoulders, or an entirely easy decision either. It was one that I surrendered to God. After some discernment I accepted his wish for my religious journey going forward.”
At Khanya House, she works closely with secretary-general Fr Hugh O’Connor, who told The Southern Cross that he sees her as an equal partner in managing the SACBC’s day-to-day affairs.
Sr Dominica has been to Rome on several occasions in various capacities. However, the highlight of these was attending the 2023/2024 Synod Assembly of Bishops last year. “It was a very different experience this time around — being part of a group of Church leaders from our region taking part in the engagements with Pope Francis is something that will stay with me for eternity,” she said.
Women in the Church
The Sister is content with the direction the Church is taking concerning women’s rights. “Looking back to a time when in my hometown parish, for example, women were not allowed to even come close to the altar, we have indeed come a long way. We have taken some big steps in paying attention to the marginalisation of women in the Church. These are gradual steps which are certainly leading to a greater inclusion of women in the Church’s affairs. In this regard, I must commend Pope Francis in his efforts.” However, Sr Dominica warned, “we are not there yet — we still need to push forward”.
She also sees a change in the levels of decision-making in the local Church. “At the conference level, much has been happening behind the scenes to delegate considerable powers from the top down, from the SACBC to the dioceses and down to the parishes,” she explained.
”The SACBC is fully behind and actioning initiatives for the dioceses to gain greater control over their own affairs. More than the influence of the conference as such, the power of managing our churches ultimately rests on the dioceses themselves. Hence we encourage the dioceses to put this into practice because they know themselves best what it is they see for the future,” she said.
This is a conference-wide process in which the granddaughter of the devout Mrs Natalia Mkhize of Mhlabatshane is honoured to play a part.
Published in the August 2024 issue of The Southern Cross magazine
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