In this year, Maronite Patriarch Elias Howayek, sent Fr. Emmanuel El-Fadle to South Africa from Kfarhata-Elzawye, North Lebanon. A historical year for the entire Maronite Community in South Africa – Fr. Emmanuel El-Fadle was the first Maronite Priest to walk on South African soil. After time as a student in Rome and Paris, he began serving the South African community on both spiritual and social levels. Fr Fadle converted a building in Johannesburg into a church and residence. He left South Africa after 4 years. On his return to Lebanon he died on 27 July 1909, a victim of the ill-fated ship, SS Waratah, which sunk at Transkei off the mouth of the Xora River in Wild Coast between Durban and East London. After 90 years its wreckage was positively found and identified on 23rd June 1999 by Emlyn Brown (Ref: Viva Lewey, Thunder from a clear sky, p.38).