Ground Broken for the Cape Town South Africa Temple

In his dedicatory prayer, Elder Godoy expressed gratitude to the Lord and asked for a blessing on the area.

“We are especially grateful, Father, for the holy temples which are Thy houses among us, where heaven and earth meet,” he said. “May this holy house stand as a light upon a hill, a place of peace, reverence and inspiration for all who come near.”

The ceremony began with remarks from members of the Cape Town area sharing testimonies of the blessings that come from attending the temple.

“I have a testimony of temples, that they are the closest place to heaven on earth,” Zandile Nkomo, a member of the Milnerton Ward, said. “The Spirit constantly resides in there.”

As part of the ceremony, soil was turned on a site bordered with white stones, each inscribed with the names of Primary children from the Bellville and Cape Town Stakes (a group of congregations). These stones symbolized the faith of future generations, physically and spiritually woven into the foundation of this temple.

“The temples in Africa are being built for the rising generation,” he said.

Following the ceremony, Tlhabenelo Diholo of the Montana Ward shared his impressions of the event.

“When Elder Godoy offered the dedicatory prayer, it was so calm, and that calmness was an assurance to me that this spot where the Cape Town South Africa Temple will be built is the right spot,” he said. “It’s exactly where the Lord wants His temple to be.”

The Cape Town South Africa Temple

The Cape Town South Africa Temple will be built on a 3.8-acre site on 3 Liesbeek Avenue, Observatory, in Cape Town. Plans include a single-story temple of approximately 890 square meters (9,500 square feet), accompanied by patron housing and arrival facilities.

President Russell M. Nelson first announced this temple during the April 2021 general conference.

“Temples are a vital part of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness. Ordinances of the temple fill our lives with [God’s] power and strength available in no other way,” he said then.

Cape Town, located on the southwestern coast of South Africa is home to the country’s first congregation of Latter-day Saints, established in Mowbray in 1853 — the beginning of the Church’s presence on the African continent. Today, South Africa is home to more than 76,000 members in nearly 200 congregations. The Cape Town South Africa Temple will be the country’s third temple.

Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ are different from meetinghouses or chapels where members gather for Sunday worship services. A temple is considered a house of the Lord, where the teachings of Jesus Christ are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism and other ceremonies that unite families for eternity.