Berkley Center

Bishop Mvume Dandala grew up in Eastern Cape Province in South Africa, studied theology at the Federal Theological Seminary in that province, and earned an MA at Cambridge University, UK. He became a minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, later its presiding Bishop and President of the South African Council of Churches. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Secretary General of the All Africa Conference of Churches in Nairobi. In 2009, he became Presidential Candidate of the Congress of the People (COPE), a party formed in 2008 by former members of the Africa National Congress (ANC), challenging the ANC in the South African elections of 2009. In July, 2010 he resigned as Member of Parliament and his membership of COPE and was reinstated as a Methodist Minister. Until recently he was a member of the presidium of the World Methodist Council. Bishop Dandala fought against apartheid and worked on reconciliation during South Africa’s transition period.