Strengthening Old Bonds: South African Couple Renew Ties with Italian Missionary Communities

by Daluxolo Moloantoa · November 17, 2025

Top: Dan Marokane, partner Innocentia Motau, and the South African priests studying in Rome. Bottom: Dan Marokane visiting the Stigmatine Fathers priests Fr Gianni Piccolboni and Fr Severino in Verona.

A recent pastoral trip to Italy by South African Catholic leader and Eskom CEO, Dan Marokane, joined by his partner Innocentia Motau, has renewed long-standing ties with the Stigmatine Fathers and the Comunità di Gesù — communities whose missionary presence has shaped South African Catholic life for generations.

The Stigmatine Fathers served for decades at St Zeno Church, Dan’s home parish in his hometown of Letlhabile, in Brits, North-West province.
They first came to South Africa in 1960, arriving in the Archdiocese of Pretoria. Marokane also comes from a family of deep vocation: his younger brother is Fr Stephen (“Steve”) Marokane, who serves in the Archdiocese of Pretoria. The couple began their journey with a visit to the Vatican, where they joined Pope Leo XIV and thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s Square for the traditional Sunday papal window address.

This pilgrimage formed part of several trips the couple has undertaken to Italy in recent years, each one deepening their connection to the religious communities who have shaped South African Catholicism. A highlight of their days in Rome was spending time with South African priests currently pursuing further studies, including Fr Johny Sefafe-Mphatse and Fr Pheto Matlala. These encounters reinforced the growing bonds between South African laity and clergy living, studying, and serving abroad.

From Rome, the couple departed for their second visit to Verona, leaving the city four days before the scheduled state visit of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to the Vatican, which took place on 8-9 November 2025. Their previous visit to Verona took place in September 2023, when they travelled to Italy for the funeral of Fr Giuliano Melotto CSS, a beloved Stigmatine missionary deeply linked to South Africa. This earlier visit was documented by The Southern Cross.

Warm Reunion in Verona

A significant part of the visit took place in Verona, where Marokane met with Fr Gianni Piccolboni and Fr Severino, both widely respected for their many years of service in South Africa. Fr Severino, who recently returned to Italy after 54 years of dedicated ministry, continues to hold a deep affection for the South African communities he served. Though now receiving medical support in Italy, his attachment to South Africa remains unmistakable.

Fr Gianni, known for his warm personality and enduring vitality, received the visitors with enthusiasm. Both priests expressed their ongoing closeness to the people and parishes where they ministered, and the encounter was marked by gratitude and mutual encouragement. Marokane observed how uplifting it was to see these veteran missionaries in good spirits and still rooted in their lifelong missionary devotion.

Top: Stigmatine Fathers priests Fr Gianni Piccolboni and Fr Severino with the couple in Verona. Dan Marokane and Innocentia Motau with “Ausi” Giuliana and “Ausi” Paula in Florence at Comunità di Gesù, a lay ecclesial community.

Growing Communion with South Africans in Rome

During the trip, Marokane also took note of an encouraging pattern: an increasing number of South African lay Catholics traveling to Rome are making deliberate efforts to connect with local priests and seminarians studying there. These encounters, often captured in photographs, reflect a strengthening sense of global communion and a shared identity within the universal Church.

Florence: A Visit with the Comunità di Gesù

The final leg of the journey took Marokane to Florence for a visit with members of the Comunità di Gesù, a lay ecclesial community with deep and historic ties to South Africa. He met with “Ausi” Giuliana and “Ausi” Paula, who continue to support the South African mission with dedication.
The community’s South African representative, Ausi Maetsane, is based in Brits, from where a number of social and pastoral initiatives are still actively coordinated. The Florence visit reaffirmed the shared spiritual roots and ongoing collaboration between the Italian community and their South African partners.
A Journey Rooted in Gratitude

Across Verona, Rome, and Florence, the visit highlighted longstanding friendships, renewed partnerships, and the enduring legacy of missionaries who gave their lives in service to South Africa. For Marokane, the journey affirmed the deep interconnectedness of the global Church — a communion sustained through memory, prayer, and continued collaboration.