The fourth annual JD Baqwa memorial lecture will be delivered by the general-secretary of the All Africa Council of Churches, the Reverend Dr Mvume Dandala, at Forest Hill Residence on 1 August.

The lecture series aims to promote open dialogue and raise awareness of the challenges faced by South African society. It also aims to forge meaningful solutions to the most pressing challenges on the very many different strands of national life.

Dandala is a distinguished South African, whose political awakening took root under the tutelage of the then South African Students Organisation. In 1997 he was elected presiding bishop of the Methodist Church in Southern Africa, while doubling as the president of the South African Council of Churches, until his current appointment.

In 2002, President Thabo Mbeki awarded him the Silver Order of the Grand Counsellor of the Baobab. He has also won the Golden Dove Peace Award and the Paul Harris Fellowship Award.

Dandala holds a Diploma in Theology from John Wesley College's Federal Theological Seminary of Southern Africa, and a Bachelor of Arts and a Master's of Arts in theology degree from the University of Cambridge. He has also holds honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Transkei and the Faculty of Protestant Theology in Cameroon.

Former speakers at the Baqwa lecture series, established in memory of the late warden of Forest Hill, include retired Anglican Archbishop Reverend Njongonkulu Ndungane, UNISA vice-chancellor Professor Barney Pityana, and Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, vice-chancellor of the University of KwaZulu- Natal.