Cyprian Thorpe , in an obituary , relates that while Oram was no linguist , he nevertheless learned enough Afrikaans , Setswana and isiXhosa to conduct services in those languages in the rural areas and townships where they were spoken . His musicality " undoubtedly helped him to pronounce the languages ... He was a church organist from the age of 15 and even produced Gilbert and Sullivan operettas amongst his Afrikaans-speaking congregations in the remote towns of the Northern Cape . " In 1960 he was appointed Dean of Kimberley at St Cyprian 's Cathedral , where he was installed on 21 February 1960 . This was exactly a month prior to the Sharpeville massacre , one of the turning points in the history of apartheid oppression under which Oram 's South African ministry was exercised . “ We shall offer penitence for our failure to be a Christian nation , ” read a prayer chain in May 1960 , part of the Union Jubilee Festival
Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre
Kenneth Oram