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LOT MAX SEEPE
1908—1982
DEEPLY GRIEVED PASSING BELOVED PROMOTER FAITH MAX SEEPE. HIS LONG RECORD DEVOTED SERVICES HIS EXEMPLARY STEADFASTNESS WILL ALWAYS INSPIRE HEARTS HIS COWORKERS AND COUNTRYMEN. PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL. EXTEND FAMILY LOVING SYMPATHY. Universal House of J ustice 6 October 1982
Max Seepé was the first ‘Coloured’ believer to embrace the Faith in South Africa. His declaration was made in July 1955 when he was forty-five years of age. He was a teacher by profession and had taught in many cities in South Africa, but at this time he was working for an insurance company, a job which he held until the end of his life. He lived in Western Township, Johannesburg. He had distinguished himself through his services as a Scout and he was active in the St. John Ambulance Association as a first-aid assistant.
Western Township was one of several ‘Coloured’ townships in Johannesburg. The Seepé home soon became the focal point of Bahá’í teaching work. In his enthusiastic teaching Max was assisted by his wife, May, who enrolled in the Faith later that year and became the first ‘Coloured’ woman believer in South Africa. For many years Max
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IN MEMORIAM
Lot Max Seepé
served as chairman of the Local Spiritual Assembly for Western, Newclare and Sophiatown Townships. Eventually this Assembly was integrated into the J ohannesburg Assembly as restrictions in the country relaxed. Max continued to serve on this Assembly until his passing.
In the firesides at the Seepé home, Max and May were assisted by Florence Marumo, Peter Thebenare, Andrew Mofokeng, and William Masehla. In those early days there were also deepening classes conducted by William Sears and his wife, Marguerite, at their farm. Max made certain that the Western Township Bahá’í community was regular in attending such classes; he could, indeed, be considered the father of the ‘Coloured’ believers in Johannesburg.
In April 1956 Max was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa and served on this institution for twenty-five years. At the time of his passing on 3 October 1982, he was the only original member remaining on the Assembly.
During his period of service Max showed several virtues. He was frank and forthright in consultation, was not given to unnecessary
807
speech, took decisions with ease and an almost youth-like enthusiasm and firmly upheld the application of Bahá’í principles. His phenomenal memory for the various evolutionary steps involved in the development of the Faith in the region served the Assembly well as new members were added. He believed strongly in fellowship and was always enthusiastic about attending a Convention or conference, distance and expense being no object. He found ways of economizing in order to travel and teach. Max unfailingly displayed obedience to his Assembly and humility to his fellow believers. Nothing was more paramount than attending the meetings of the National Spiritual Assembly; punctuality delighted him and it was rare that Max was absent or late. His well-worn prayer book, flexible from handling, was always in his breast pocket ready for use. He gave a helping hand to a number of countries in Southern Africa including Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, Zululand and Mozambique, where he travelled, often with May, on teaching trips or to attend conferences, Conventions and Summer Schools. He attended the first International Convention for the election of the Universal House of Justice, where he served as a teller, and went on to attend the World Congress in London. In 1978 he was again privileged to serve as a teller during the International Convention. He was the official representative of the National Assembly at many conferences over the years and always discharged his responsibilities with honour and dignity.
On 9 July 1957 the beloved Guardian wrote
to the National Spiritual Assembly of South
and West Africa: ‘. . . considering the diversity of problems this newly-elected Body has
had to grapple with since its inception, the
grave dangers with which it has been faced,
the vastness of the area in which it has been
called upon to operate, and the diversity of
the peoples and tribes which it has been its
privilege to contact, enlighten and direct, its
concrete and enduring achievements, in the
course of the last twelve months, have been
such as to evoke in my heart feelings of
unqualified admiration for the manner in
which it has discharged its varied and weighty
responsibilities. It has indeed, through the
wisdom it has displayed, the energy with
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which it has laboured, the fidelity which
it has abundantly demonstrated, and the
courage and single-mindedness with which
its members have arisen to discharge their
mission, set an example worthy of emulation
by not only its three sister Assemblies in that
continent, but by every other National or
Regional Assembly in either the eastern or
western hemisphere.’ Max was an integral
part of that National Spiritual Assembly. The
cable sent by the Continental Board of Counsellors for Africa at the time of Max’s passing
summarizes his effect upon the continent:
DEEPLY GRIEVED SAD UNEXPECI‘ED NEWS PASSING BELOVED MAX SEEPE WELL REMEMBERED THROUGHOUT CONTINENT AS ONE OF MOST ENTHUSIASTIC EARLY BELIEVERS SOUTHERN AFRICA. KINDLY CONVEY LOVING CONDOLENCES HIS FAMILY YOUR MEMBERS AND ALL FRIENDS. DEEPEST SYMPATHY COUNSELLORS.
/,/
Max Seepé’s last meeting with the Baha 1s was the International Conference held in Johannesburg on 19 September 1982, the conference dedicated to the Greatest Holy Leaf and held in the year that marked the fiftieth anniversary of her passing, and the twentyfifth anniversary of the passing of the Guardian. Present at that gathering as the representative of the Universal House of Justice was Max’s teacher, the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears.
Max’s greatest wish was to once more attend the International Convention in Haifa during Riḍván 1983. But it was not to be. However, his fellow National Assembly members who were present thought of him often during those precious days, especially when the tellers made their report, and said prayers on his behalf at the Holy Shrines.
Truly, HIS EXEMPLARY STEADFASTNESS WILL ALWAYS INSPIRE [the] HEARTS [of] HIS coWORKERS AND COUNTRYMEN. What greater tribute could be paid a Bahá’í than to be called by the Universal‘House of Justice A NOBLE SOUL!
ANDREW MOFOKENG
THE BAHA’I’ WORLD
