Durban - One of the most prestigious awards for humanitarian service has been conferred on Durban publicist Illa Thompson.
This week Thompson, Fatima Hoosen and Chris Martin, also from Durban, were sworn in as Members of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.
Thompson said the enormity of the event took a while to sink in, but she felt honoured.
“It’s very lekker to see a medal with her majesty, Queen of England’s royal crest on it. It’s something you don’t ever think is going to happen to you, sitting and working quietly under the radar in Durban.”
St John, one of the oldest and most respected NGOs in the world, delivers first aid, healthcare and support services in more than 35 countries, mostly in the Commonwealth.
Unlike other Crown Orders of Chivalry, the Order of St John is a working Order and Queen Elizabeth is its Sovereign Head.
Thompson’s award is in appreciation of the work she has done in publicity and outreach for St John in KwaZulu-Natal, and the connection between the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC) and the Order of St John. She is the facilitator of the DHC’s Street Lit homeless book selling project which is hosted by St John.
Hoosen is the director of eye care for St John South Africa, while Martin is special projects manager for the organisation.
The three recipients of the award were sworn in as Members by the Prior, the Most Reverend Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town, who represented the Priory for South Africa at the St John Investiture Ceremony in Johannesburg.
While the acknowledgement doesn’t come with a title, the three members can now include the information in their correspondence and any formal documentation.
The honour is especially poignant for Thompson who had to scale back her business and retrench staff because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s a fabulous affirmation and it always comes, I suppose, at the right time in one's life when one needs to be affirmed. I think coming out of a really hard Covid, it’s a time when it’s just nice to be reminded that one still has purpose and still has significance and still has abilities… I think all of us have been doubting ourselves a little bit coming through this,” said Thompson.
Dame Cathy Dedman, the Administrator of St John Durban, carried the Priory Cross during the Investiture Ceremony.
Dedman holds the honorific title of Dame from the Priory of South Africa, the female equivalent of a knighthood, in acknowledgement of nearly five decades of service with the Order of St John, said Thompson.
The Independent on Saturday