To crown the year, Brothers Knorr and Henschel paid a visit to the country in November. Brother Knorr was very happy to see the fine two-story brick and stucco branch building on a nice plot of well-situated land. What a difference he found this time from the small office in Cape Town with no living quarters! He enjoyed a tour of the building and meeting all the members of the family.

A few days later Brother Knorr, along with Brother Phillips, paid a visit to Durban, that fine modern city on the shores of the Indian Ocean. He had to give his talks in three different places, in accordance with local segregation regulations. At the Colored meeting he was happy to see fifteen Indians present and took the opportunity to speak to some of them after the meeting. There is a very large Indian population in Durban and the Kingdom message was just then beginning to break through to them.

The African meeting in Durban was held in Lamontville, a new township on the southern side of the city. The singing of the Zulu brothers at that meeting deeply impressed Brother Knorr. That meeting was held on Sunday afternoon, and in the evening a meeting was held for the European brothers, with 435 present at a hall in the center of the city.

Soon after returning to Johannesburg, Brother Knorr made a call at the office of the British High Commissioner for Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland. This was in connection with a ban on the importation of the Society’s literature into those three protectorates since the year 1941. Since at the time of Brother Knorr’s visit, there were more than 400 Witnesses engaged in spreading the good news in those territories, the Society was making repeated attempts to have the ban lifted. Brother Knorr was able to speak with the chief secretary of the commissioner, answer all his questions, and present a clear picture of the fine educational work being done by Jehovah’s witnesses. However, the ban continued for several years after that.

By this time Brother Henschel had arrived and an encouraging meeting was held at the Germiston Town Hall, arranged by the Germiston European congregation. Many of the brothers on the Reef came, so that the total attendance was 725.

On December 8, Brother Knorr and Brother Phillips flew to Windhoek, the capital of South-West Africa. The three missionaries there were very happy to see them and to hold their very first assembly in that country. There were about ten at the regular sessions and a peak of 25 at the public meeting.

Back at the Elandsfontein branch, Brothers Knorr and Henschel gave attention to many matters pertaining to the organizing of the work and the problems that had to be handled. The Society’s president was able to help the branch on points that would affect the work for years to come. He also met the traveling servants from the field and gave them much counsel and encouragement.

An assembly was held December 11-14, and was the climax of the visit of Brothers Knorr and Henschel. In Johannesburg, we had succeeded in getting permission to have all three ethnic groups in the one stadium, although sitting in different sections. For all the African brothers to be able to attend from all parts of South Africa and the protectorates, a tremendous amount of work had been necessary to obtain individual passes and permits for those over sixteen years of age. Owing to the language difficulty, there were three addresses of welcome given, first in English, then in Afrikaans and finally in Zulu. The European brothers enjoyed listening to that talk in the Zulu language, with its fascinating clicks, and at the end of it they applauded as heartily as the Zulu brothers!

One of the points that Brother Knorr stressed when he spoke to the African brothers was the need for them to learn to read and write so that they could have a better knowledge of the truth and be more efficient preachers in the field.

A RETURN VISITOR FROM BROOKLYN

In October 1955 Milton G. Henschel revisited South Africa. At first it seemed as if he would not be able to attend our assembly, as the Department of the Interior, after having issued a visa for him, later canceled it. Just the day before he was due to arrive, the necessary visa was reissued, but with the reservation that no public speeches would be permitted. In great haste, several brothers at Bethel were assigned to prepare talks and stand in for Brother Henschel, if necessary. However, when Brother Henschel arrived, he had an interview with the Secretary for the Interior, was given the “green light” and everything went forward as originally planned. This decision brought great joy to all the brothers and a sigh of relief from the few hard-pressed Bethel brothers who had been hastily preparing talks to substitute for Brother Henschel.

All three racial groups again had the privilege of meeting at Wembley Stadium, as in 1952, but still observing the law by sitting in segregated groups. How the brothers were thrilled to hear the keynote address by Brother Henschel, assuring them that they were being led in a triumphal procession by their King, Jesus Christ​—a sweet-smelling odor to Jehovah although a stench to the enemy! A total of 10,754 attended the public talk “World Conquest Soon​—by God’s Kingdom, and 407 symbolized their dedication by immersion. The assembly was further climaxed on Sunday when all the new releases were made available that day, as they had arrived in Johannesburg only late on Saturday night.