In Memoriam 1992-1997/May Martha Seepé

MAY MARTHA SEEPé

1918—1993

Be assured that the Universal House of Justice has OECICd prayers in the Holy Shrines for the progress of the soul oers. May Seepé in the Abhá

Kingdom.

Department of the Secretariat September 6, 1993

ay Martha Seepé, known as

“Auntie May" to everyone, was the first women of South Africa’s “colored” community to become a Bahá’í.58 Her enrollment took place at her home on November 6, 1955.

38 A distinction is made by some South Africans between “colored" and “African". While both may refer to native horn Africans, the term “colored” implies being ofmixed race or Malaysian descent. Dorothy Senne, who was not of mixed race or Malaysian descent, was considered to be the first African Bahá’í in the country, declaring in January 1955. See “In Memoriam,” The Balm? World, vol. XVII, pp. 434—36.

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A few months earlier May and her husband, Max,” had visited Rudolfo Duna,40 a friend in Mozambique who had told them about the Faith. In July Rudolfo visited Johannesburg and invited them to the farm of William and Marguerite Sears in Muldersdrift, on the edge ofjohannesburg. After that very first evening of listening to a presentation on the Faith conducted by Mr. Sears, Max recognized the truth of Bahá’u’lláh. But May said, “I didn’t understand a thing.” Later that evening

she queried Max:

I saw Max signing something and when we came home I asked him if he understood what he had signed. He said that yes, he understood. So, I decided to read something and keep attending the classes at the Sears’ farm. I read 7% DawnBrazkers and 84/7117 “70er Faith, and four months later I decided it was true that the world needs a physician for the ills of today, for the time we’re living in. So, at this very home in Western Township where I have lived for thirty—one years, I signed my card, and my teachers were William Masehla41 (later a Counsellor for Africa) and Andrew Mofokeng (the first secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa).

May’s parents, Annie Stephens and Edward Melville, were laborers living in the African township in Krugersdotp. Born on May 19, 1918, she was first schooled in Krugersdorp (1925—1933) and then at the Wesleyan Secondary School in Boksburg (1934—1939). From there she moved to

39 See “In Mcmoriam,” 7%? Balad’z’ World, vol. XVIII, pp. 806+8.

’10 See “In Memoriam,” 77M Balm? erd, vol. XX, pp‘ 846—48.

4' Also Masetlha, for whom the William Mmutle Masetlha Foundation has been named.

?;i 5 ,_ ...‘

May Martha Seepé

Sophiatown, the legendary black township of Johannesburg, to work in a knitting factory.

Knitting was May’s trade and hobby for the rest of her life. It was in Sophiatown that she met the school teacher, Max Seepé. Both were interested in sports and played tennis. They were married on May 6, 1944, and had one child, Doreen. Before they became Bahá’ís, neither had had any religious commitment.

Immediately after enrolling both Max and May became spare—time traveling teachers for the Faith, quite independent of the pioneers. Having no indigenous literature in the beginning, they started teaching in Swaziland and Mozambique and then moved on to Basutoland (Lesotho); Southern and Northern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe and Zambia); Nyasaland (Malawi); South West Africa (Namibia), including OvanboIand, Herreroland, and Damaraland; and every part of the Republic of South Africa.

Asked how she was able to communicate in all these places, May said that she

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could speak English, Afrikaans, Sesotho, Zulu, and Xhosa and had a good ear for language. She and Max would buy a dictionary whenever they didn’t know the language and would piece together sentences. Sometimes they would try to find an interpreter, but May added, “People always understand, if you try.”

Her favorite themes for teaching were the oneness of mankind, the oneness of religion, “the earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,” and all barriers are man—made. When asked what the Faith had done for her, her quick response was, “The Faith has led me to be detached. 1 can easily detach myself from whatever is not within the framework of the Faith.”

May was a person of total devotion to service with no strings attached. What she liked most about the Faith were the Holy Writings and the movement from place to place. She went everywhere with Max on trips, except when he attended the first and subsequent International Conventions and the World Congress. In 1981 she went on pilgrimage without Max but with a group of other pilgrims from South Africa.

The Seepé home was always a place for fireside teaching and administrative activities. May served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Western Township, Newclare, and Sophiatown, which later became integrated into the Johannesburg Assembly. She served almost continuously until her passing on August 1, 1993, rarely missing a meeting in spite of her growing physical infirmities. She was often elected a delegate to the National Convention, and she served for some time on the National Teaching Committee and as an assistant to an Auxiliary Board member. She also used her home for children’s classes and Bahá’í women's activities; she taught knitting so the women could make some money to contribute to the fund.

After Max's death in 1982 she was joined in her home by her sister Sarah. In their latter years May and Sarah were like twins in their services to the Faith. They died within a few months of each other.

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