The roots of our parish stretch back to a little house that was situated close to the present church and is now the site of St.Joseph’s school. The first Mass was celebrated in that little house which Fr. Buckley MCS, our first resident priest, occupied in 1959. The rapid growth of the local Catholic population necessitated the building of a bigger facility. The Mater Dei Catholic community responded to that need by organising fundraising activities for the new Church in Kabega Park.

Msgr J.Murphy was appointed to the church in 1960 by Bishop Green. He also ministered to the communities of Kabega, Greenbushes, Patensie, Humansdorp and the Catholic workforce of the Kouga Dam. Msgr. Murphy was thus an iterant or travelling priest.

Sacred Heart church was built at the end of 1961 and blessed by Bishop Green assisted by Msgr. Murphy and Frs J O’Donnel and Durkin MSC. The church bell was blessed on 4th August 1961 and known as Dominic. The church was officially consecrated on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 10 June 1983 by Bishop Green assisted by Frs. Barnes and Dania.

In 1971 Fr. W Barnes succeeded Msg. Murphy as the new parish priest. During this time, the church experienced a period of growth and expansion with the development of a Youth club, the CWL, St.Vincent de Paul and the Legion of Mary.

A new community hall was built through lots of hard work and the dedication of enthusiastic volunteers. Fr. D.Johnson SJ transferred from St.Aiden’s to assist

Fr. Barnes during this time.

In Dec. 1994, Fr. T McGuiness joined the parish after relocating to South Africa from Ireland. He served the Sacred Heart and Jeffreys Bay communities until his retirement in 2005. Fr.P.Fahy was appointed parish priest in 2005. Under his stewardship, the church responded to the challenge of the multicultural South African reality. Fr.P.Chungu joined the parish briefly to assist Fr. Fahy with the massive task of ministering to the biggest Catholic community in PE. After Fr. Chungu was moved to a different parish, Fr. J. Vermaak joined Fr. Fahy as assistant priest. After Fr. Fahy moved to Jeffreys Bays in 2015, Fr.V. Dania took over as the caretaker priest until the arrival of Fr. Lubabalo Mguda in 2017. Fr. Runaine Radine has joined as Assistant Priest since 2019.