From the desk of the General Secretary, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana
30 November 2021
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) represented by General Secretary, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, today attended the hearings in KwaZulu Natal (KZN) hosted by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in reviewing the incidents of civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Gauteng earlier this year.
Bishop Malusi’s attendance was a demonstration of solidarity with the SAHRC in working to uncover the full impact of the unrest, on all the affected. The SACC in August expressed the hope that these hearings would leave no stone unturned in identifying the motivating lint that set fire to the ready context of poverty and want, and which resulted in millions of rands lost and businesses destroyed, with the loss of human life having been the ultimate price paid. The hearings are scheduled to allow for testimony from academics, journalists and the president of the South African shack dwellers’ movement, also known as Abahlali baseMjondolo. Today the National Commissioner of Police, General Sithole, was continuing with his testimony.
“Our presence here today is to support the work that began earlier this year”, said Bishop Mpumlwana. Together, the SACC through its Local Ecumenical Action Networks (LEANs), its provincial chapter – the Kwa-Zulu Natal Christian Council (KZNCC), and the active interfaith collaboration of the Hindu priests, the religious community has played its own role in active ministry on the ground in Phoenix. “We have worked with community leaders and law enforcement to bring healing and peace to the area. We have met with the bereaved families, and heard of their pain, and met with business owners who have lost their livelihoods. These hearings today serve to demonstrate that the countless injustices have not fallen on deaf ears, and this process seeks to acknowledge the pain, and make recommendations of how to remedy the situation, to allow us move past this point in our nation’s history,” said Bishop Mpumlwana.
The SACC will continue in its support of the SAHRC hearings.
—ENDS–
Media enquiries:
Khuthalani Khumalo
SACC Communications Consultant
South African Council of Churches
Tel: 084 074 1285 | Email: khuthalani@khuthalani.net