History

An off-shoot of Council 3 (Blessed Joseph Gérard, Victory Park, Gauteng), Council 47 was inaugurated in the presence of the entire Board of Directors on the 6th June, 1992 in Bryanston, Johannesburg and named after the French missionary to South Africa, Blessed Joseph Gérard.  All the then Transvaal Grand Knights were in attendance, together with many visitors from what was the Eastern Transvaal region. 

The first Grand Knight of Cl 47 was Chris Salt.

Our flag

The flag of Council 47 comprises a gold cross with crown of thorns, with spear and rod, symbolising the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the Order to which Blessed Joseph Gérard belonged, against an azure blue background which reflects the love Gérard had for Our Lady. The scattering of Basuto hats represents the people among whom Gérard worked during his ministry in South Africa, in the area now known as Lesotho.

Formally the blazon heraldry of the Cl47 flag is described as follows: 

Azure, semé of Basuto hats argent, a spear and a rod in saltire, the latter supporting a sponge, surmounted by a Latin cross, or suspended from the upper arm thereof, a crown of thorns. 

Blessed Joseph Gérard

Council 47 is named after Blessed Joseph Gérard, OMI (March 12, 1831 – May 29, 1914) who, as recorded on Wikipedia, was a French Catholic missionary who chiefly worked among the Basotho people of modern day Lesotho and the Free State province of South Africa. He was born in Bouxières-aux-Chênes, in the Diocese of Nancy and received his religious training from the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, whom he joined at the age of twenty. He wasn't particularly gifted academically, but was quick at learning languages, which would later help him in learning the Zulu and Sesotho languages he used for his missionary work. Gérard moved to South Africa in 1853, and never returned to his home country again.

Missionary work

Gérard was ordained as a priest at Pietermaritzburg in 1854. He started his work as a missionary among the Zulus in the Vicariate of Natal, but met with little progress there. In 1862 he joined Father François Allard, the Bishop of Natal, in starting the first Catholic mission in Lesotho - there already was a Protestant congregation founded by the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society. With permission from the Basotho chief Moshoeshoe I, they founded the Motse-oa-'M'a-Jesu (Village of the Mother of Jesus) mission around 32 kilometers south of Thaba Bosiu, at the site of present day Roma. By all accounts, Gérard was well respected by Moshoeshoe for remaining in the country during the Free State–Basotho Wars, and it has been said that it was at Gérard's encouragement that the chief sought British intervention at the end of the conflict. However, Gérard's missionary work still progressed slowly: by the end of 1879, there were only 700 Catholics in the country.

In 1875, Gérard founded the St. Monica mission in the Leribe District in northern Lesotho. From there, he serviced not only the Basotho of Lesotho, but also those who lived in the neighboring Orange Free State. He returned to the Roma congregation in 1898, where he continued his work as a missionary for the rest of his life. He died on May 29, 1914, aged 83. As a result of the work partially initiated by Gérard, Catholic Christianity is the majority religion in present day Lesotho.

Beatification

Gérard was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 15, 1988, in a mass conducted at Lesotho's capital Maseru. His feast day, celebrated by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, is on May 29.

The current Cl47 Local Executive was appointed in April 2015, and comprises the following officers:

• Grand Knight Archie Thema
  
• Deputy Grand Knight Peter Henning
• Secretary Zwano Nxumalo
• Chancellor (and PGK) Dave Poultney
• Treasurer Ray Chamboko
• Master of First Degree El Pestana
• Master of Second Degree Duncan Todd
• Master-at-Arms Peo Boakgomo

The major initiatives undertaken by Council 47 include two major annual fund-raisers:

• An annual Spring Charity Ball, organised in September of each year, and usually held at the Church of the Resurrection in Bryanston, Johannesburg.
• An annual Golf Day, usually held in September each year at  the Wanderers golf club in Illovo, Johannesburg.