Jesus said: “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world!”
- Greeting: We greet you in the precious name of the
Risen Lord whose resurrection is our guarantee of hope – the hope that
is in us, as Apostle Peter puts it (1 Peter 3:15) It is this hope that
is in Christ that convinces us that every death experience can and must
be overcome with new life as anchored in Him who said I have come that
you may have life, and have it abundantly.
- Signs of the Times: As leaders of the member
churches of the South African Council of Churches we meet always in the
first half of each year to review the state of the nation, so that we
can “read the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:2-3), as our Lord expects
of us. It is out of the commitment to read the signs of the times that
we are able to be more focused and more deliberate with our prayers for
the country, the people and the conditions of their living. Prayer is
our primary and most important duty as church. For this reason we have
committed ourselves, and request of you in your congregations, to
continuously soak the country in prayer. In our prayers we mount the
pains of the country on the cross of the crucified Christ, and with
every sign of the victory of goodness we raise our voices of praise to
the song of the angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace and
goodwill in society.” (Luke 2:3).
- Ambassadors for Christ: Along with prayer we have
committed ourselves to work, and be the eyes and ears that see and hear
what the Lord reveals to us; and be the feet that hasten to walk to
where the Lord seeks to make a difference, and the hands that bring the
healing touch of God. St Paul reminds us the “we are ambassadors for
Christ, God making his appeal through us” (2 Cor. 5:20a). In this regard
we have for ourselves, the platform that is the SACC, that exists to
lead common Christian action that works for moral witness in South
Africa, addressing issues of social and economic justice, national
reconciliation, the integrity of creation, eradication of poverty, and
contributing towards the empowerment of all those who are spiritually,
socially and economically marginalized. In this spirit we minister to
the nation through our service of watchful presence, as Prophet Isaiah
proclaims:
“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent.” (Isaiah 62:6)
- Unburdening Report – That we may “SEE”:On Thursday
May 18, 2017, the South African Council of Churches released the
Unburdening Panel Report on what we have seen in goings on of corruption
and the capture of State entities by a power elite that is associated
with President Zuma. (Full report on SACC website www.sacc.org.za)This
is the first and the “SEE” part of a SEE-JUDGE-ACT approach that the
SACC uses in considering matters that need serious attention in society.
“SEE” is going deep into the situation and seeking to understand
through research, what exactly is the reality of what is going on.
“JUDGE” is applying the eyes of the Gospel to say what is the value
judgment call on this matter now that we know what we know. And the
“ACT” is when a resolution is taken to act in accordance with the
application of the
Gospel values. In the SEE part we have worked with research
volunteers that work from different universities and coordinate their
work and findings. This, together what we already know from the initial
Unburdening Process, becomes the SEE part of our work, which must be
followed by a theological JUDGE process, leading to the SACC National
Conference on June 6 – 8, where the resolutions of ACT will be made.
- Purpose of Report Release: The SEE report paints a
rather disturbing picture of the state of governance and public
management to the extent that we conclude that the government has lost
its moral standing; and that it may well even be bordering on
constitutional illegitimacy – an area we choose not to go into at this
point. The purpose of the release of this report is to inform the Church
Public whose delegates will gather at the upcoming National Conference
of the SACC on June 6– 8, so that they can commit it to prayerful
reflection.
- The South Africa We Pray For:On December 16, 2015 –
the Day of Reconciliation, the churches gathered at the historic Regina
Mundi Catholic Church in Soweto, to commit to pray and work for:
- Healing and Reconciliation
- Fabric of family life
- Poverty and Inequality
- Economic Transformation, and
- Anchoring Democracy, which includes the concerns of corruption and
maladministration, and the loss of public trust in public institutions
7.The Promise of Post-Apartheid RSA: We committed
ourselves to pray and work for the promise of the post apartheid South
Africa in sync with the values of the Kingdom of God (Isaiah 11: 1-9;
Luke 4:18-19; John 10:10; Psalm 12:5; Amos 5:24), the promise of a just,
reconciled, sustainable and equitable society; free of racial, tribal,
ethnic, xenophobic and gender prejudices; free of corruption and
deprivation; and with enough food and shelter for every citizen; and for
each child born to grow to its God given potential. That is the South
Africa We Pray For!
- Unburdening Panel Facility:As part of Anchoring
Democracy, in April 2016, the SACC created the Unburdening Panel as a
safe space and a “facility” offered by the churches to any person in the
Republic of South Africa who may wish to relieve herself or himself of
the burden caused by an experience of someone – an individual, a
representative of a business interest, of a political party or of a
person of influence – your superior or someone you couldn’t say “No” to,
suggesting that you do something inappropriate in return for a
promotion, an attractive position or money or shares in a company, or
any other favour or incentive whatsoever. This was essentially a
pastoral process for the people to “unburden” themselves and tell what
they wish to tell freely; as Apostle Paul says: “Bear one another’s
burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2).
The Panel is chaired by the SACC President, Bishop Siwa. Other
members of the Panel are Madam Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, retired Justice
of the Constitutional Court; Dr Brigalia Bam, a previous General
Secretary of the South African Council of Churches and former Chair of
the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC); and Bishop Mosa Sono,
Presiding Bishop of Grace Bible Church in the Evangelical Alliance of
South Africa. Working with a team of voluntary lawyers and researchers,
for the public good, the General Secretary of the SACC, Bishop Malusi
Mpumlwana has been coordinating the Secretariat of the Panel.
- The Jonas-Mentor Revelations:The Unburdening Panel
process was triggered by the revelations by former Deputy Minister
Mcebisi Jonas and Ms. Vytjie Mentor in 2016. We looked to the governing
party proved unable to deal meaningfully with these revelations, and
instead seemed to live with the view that there would be no room for
following up on these as “all hell would break lose” because the
leadership all had their “smallanyana skeletons”, the SACC opted to
create the listening facility. It was to hear from people who had
either been pressured to participate in corrupt wrongdoing or had
witnessed such. Some came forward only to share their experiences with
no desire to be publicly revealed, but to clear their chests only.
Others were ready to go public, and these we encouraged to go to the
Public Protector and they did. Their stories are now before the nation
in the State of Capture report that has yet to be acted upon by the
government.
- What We Now See:From what we are seeing, it appears
that the problem is far greater than corruption, but organized chaos to
create confusion while wrongdoing flourishes. What we find in this SEE
part of our work is that there is a Power Elite that functions in the
environment of the President Zuma’s circle, and which has gained the
capacity to control things for their private benefit. They do this by:
- Securing control over state wealth, through the capture of
state-owned companies by chronically weakening their governance and
operational structures.
- Securing control over the public service by weeding our skilled professionals.
- Securing access to opportunities for manipulating public policy,
regulations or economic conditions to increase private economic benefit;
adjusting and using rules and regulations to their advantage, and to
the disadvantage of ordinary South Africans.
- Securing control over the country’s fiscal sovereignty – the
financial levers of the State, and undermining its long term integrity
while they reap the benefits of their actions.
- Securing control over strategic procurement opportunities by
intentionally weakening key technical institutions and formal executive
processes.
- Securing a loyal intelligence and security apparatus.
- Securing parallel governance and decision-making structures that undermine the executive.
What has happened in State companies like Transnet, Eskom and even
the SABC, shows a deliberate campaign to take away the resources that
should be available for the public good. We are not even talking here
about the daily experiences of corruption in our municipalities and
provincial governments, where many people feel pressured to participate
in wrongdoing in order to keep their precious jobs. The situation that
we see leads to endless service delivery protests and public
dissatisfaction and loss of trust in government institutions.
It seems sufficiently clear to us that the government of the day has
lost the moral radar that should inform the public service of batho pele,
in a “people first” governmental culture. Its operations seem to be
driven by an outside interest, strategically located at the top of the
Executive, in order to periodically raid the various attractive units of
the State, of which a legitimate government should be steward. This is
an accountability as well as a moral matter of the integrity and
legitimacy of government.
Section 41 of the Constitution in Chapter 3 on the “Principles of
Co-operative government and Intergovernmental Relations”. Three
subsections of Section 41 (1) says that all organs of State “must”:
(b) Secure the well-being of the people of the Republic;
(c) Provide effective, transparent, accountable and coherent government for the Republic as a whole;
(d) Be loyal to the Constitution, the Republic and its people.
In addition, Chapter 10 of the Constitution is quite instructive of
the values, principles and ethical standards of the public
administration in our constitutional dispensation. Likewise there may be
legal and constitutional questions about the manner that Parliament has
conducted itself. All these revolve around the continued constitutional
legitimacy of government, beyond the moral legitimacy that we are
seriously questioning at this time.
As leaders of the churches, we seek to facilitate the availability of
what we have seen. We invite all to see what we have seen, in the
knowledge that it can never again be unseen – for indeed “you cannot
‘unsee’ what you have seen”.
11.The Common Body of Christ: We write to our
churches as a collective body of the Christian Church for a United
Christian Witness. We recognize that although each of our churches may
have effective expressions of the mission of Christ, we better represent
the values of the Kingdom of God, not as single denominations but as
one body of believers. We are the body that Teresa of Avila must have
meant when she wrote:
“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but
yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this
world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the
hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours
are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body
now on earth but yours”.
12.Prayer Network Power: We are grateful that
Christians of all traditions, and indeed all people of faith from all
religious backgrounds are praying hard for this nation. There is a
powerful prayer network of Christians with a daily program linking
prayerful people across the land in a steady campaign to soak the
country in prayer. It began at Easter and will conclude the present
phase at Pentecost. (See www.ifsaprayer.co.za )
13.Ascension & Pentecost Focus: We urge all our
congregations to join in this prayer network, and add to the present
campaign, intensity around the two upcoming holy days – Ascension on May
25, and Pentecost the last day of the present campaign. We appeal that
people should plan to gather to pray in their local churches on Thursday
May 25, between noon and 2pm (12h00 – 14h00), and ring bells where they
have them. Ascension Day is also Africa Day, and we should add the
Africa dimension to our prayers for our continent. In addition, we
appeal for national interdenominational prayer gatherings from14h00 on
the afternoon of Pentecost Sunday June 4, so that we mark the end of the
present phase of our national prayer campaign with a collective cry for
the Holy Spirit to descend to convict us and heal our land.
14.Further Prayer Periods: We further appeal that
the national prayer networks should only pause for a moment and not
tarry long, but we request the organizers to set the next quarterly
prayer target from end of June to the end of September, with the last
prayer phase for 2017 going into December to possibly close with a major
prayer Rally of Healing and Reconciliation on December 16, ahead of
Christmas.
15.The Mystical Body of Christ – A Spirit of Penitence: This
Pastoral Letter is not only to inform our congregations of these
developments, but also to urge you to consider the report in a spirit of
penitence rather than triumphalism. We should apply all three prophetic
modes – truth to power in honesty; engender hope through positive
action that builds; and in a spirit of penitence own the sinfulness that
we see. For it is not in our individual sinful capacities that we may
speak truth to power, but inthe corporate capacity of the Mystical Body
of Christ, the Church, that we can have the confidence to speak, as “God
making his appeal through us.” We are charged to implore our government
and our society on behalf of Christ, to be conformed to the
righteousness of God in all matters of governance and life. (See 2
Corinthians 5:20). As the mystical body of Christ, the church is
identified with the holiness it is called to live and of which it is to
be witness. But the church is also a school for sinners, as St Augustine
said, seeking in grace, to grow to higher degrees of holiness (2
Corinthians 3:18)
16.Humility and Contrition: This calls for much
humility and we ask that you commit to a humble and contrite mindset
that owns the problem we seek to address herein. The Church has a lot to
be sorry about in its own inappropriate practices over time and in
various areas of life. It was in that spirit of contriteness that the
1990 Rustenburg Conference of Churches Rustenburg observed:
“We recognise that there are many other sins in our society which
call for repentance. Once all vestiges of apartheid have been abolished,
the Church will still be challenged by many other social evils which
will threaten our society”. (and)… “With a broken and contrite spirit we
ask the forgiveness of God and of our fellow South Africans.
17.Kingdom Values: We recognize that the values of
the Kingdom of God are not always the standard that people and their
governmental institutions live by, and as such there will be times when
the church has to extend a helping hand to shepherd society in the
direction of the values that make for the common good. When we do that,
we have to recognize that even though we are the everyday
representatives of the Holy God, we are as sinful and full of faults as
any other human beings.
18.Dual Identity of the Church: The church is
populated by sinful people who are striving for eternal salvation in
God’s grace. It is populated by people who are part of the same social,
cultural, economic and political milieu whose sinfulness needs the
saving work of Christ. In one sense the Christian is called to be salt
and light of the world, in another sense the Christian is an integral
part of the world that very much needs the light and salt! This dual
reality while in the struggles of living, instructs the church to
humility and contrition in pronouncing, very much owning its part of the
sinfulness of society.
19.Prophetic Responsibility of the Church: The prophetic duty of the church is at least threefold:
- a) First, to proclaim the truth of God’s values Love, Justice and
Truth, for society and its rulers, especially when society is drifting
away from such values. This is after the manner of Elijah confronting
King Ahab on the killing of Naboth for his vineyard; or Nathan
confronting King David for his sin of killing Uriah for his beautiful
wife Bathsheba whom he had taken.
- b) Second, in the example of Prophet Daniel, to absorb the
sinfulness of society in penitential confession (Daniel 9:3 following);
and intercede for society, as God expects of us, as Prophet Isaiah
writes: “(God) wondered that there was no one to intercede.” As the Tiyo
Soga hymn of 1857 goes:
“Bona izwe lakowethu uxolel’izono zalo; ungathob’ingqumbo yakho luze luf’usapho lwalo”
(Look upon our country and forgive its sins; and do not bring down your wrath for its children to perish).
3. c) Third, to act in society in ways that engender hope and reflect
the conviction of an alternative to the prevailing unacceptable life
experience; as Prophet Jeremiah did in the purchase of land as a
futuristic investment against a collapsing economy, while he himself was
in prison, and Jerusalem besieged by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar.
(Jeremiah 32: 9 – 15). Jeremiah said:
“For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land’.”
- We are urging the African National Congress as the governing party
to examine itself in the hope that they can, as an old, popular
organization that is historically trusted with social justice values, to
dig into their well-established value system, to mend the unacceptable
ways of government, before we reach the point of no return – for this
truly has implications for the ANC in government, for its leadership and
members.
- In addition we are appealing to the civil servants in government, to
note and remember that whereas governments come and go with elections,
they as civil servants are part of the permanent State system of the
citizenry, and the instrumentation of the public good envisioned in our
constitutional dispensation.
- Prophet Amos is today addressing our nation:
How you hate honest judges!
How you despise people who tell the truth!
You trample the poor, stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent.
Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses, you will never live in them.
Though you plant lush vineyards, you will never drink wine from them.
For I know the vast number of your sins and the depth of your rebellions.
You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of
justice in the courts. So those who are smart keep their mouths shut,
for it is an evil time. (Amos 5:10-13)
- With this information we appeal yet again that we all remember that,
while the observations of this report seem to call for a prophetic
engagement after the manner of Elijah, a duty we shall fulfill
obediently, we also are called to temper our approach with the
penitential intercession of Daniel, and the practical solution-oriented
proposals of Jeremiah, to, in the love Christ, envision bring hope to
our country through positive building – the National Conference will
address these matters. In Nehemiah’s words: “Come, let us rebuild… and
we will no longer be in disgrace.” (Nehemiah 2:17)
24.Yes, evil abounds in our society, manifest in many ways –
corruption, State Capture, gender based violence and the ruthless rape
and killing of women and children; and as Prophet Amos suggests, smart
people might shut their mouths “for it is an evil time”. We pray and
hope that no one must shut her mouth. The SACC’s Unburdening Panel
remains open for business. Tell about all the corruption and the
stealing of public resources; yes, from the days of the 1994 transition.
Let us know what is there so we can together create the environment to
heal the nation.
25.We exhort you, faithful people of God in the words of the writer
of Hebrews, on this occasion of celebrating the Ascension of our Lord
and eagerly anticipating the showering of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost,
to remain steadfast in the values that build and restore our
foundations, and be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God. (Hebrews 12:2)
And “now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding
joy; to God our Savior:
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)
- We exhort you, faithful people of God in the words of the writer of
Hebrews, on this occasion of celebrating the Ascension of our Lord, to
be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews
12:2)And “now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding
joy; to God our Savior:
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)
Bishop Ziphozihle Siwa, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana,
SACC President, SACC General Secretary,
Leaders of SACC Member Churches & Organizations
1.Archbishop O.J. Mathopa
African Catholic Church
- Bishop P.J.M. Kawimbe
African Methodist Episcopal Church
- The Most Rev Dr. T. Makgoba
Anglican Church of Southern Africa
- Pastor G. Mahlobo
Apostolic Faith Mission of Southern Africa
- Rev T. Mulaudzi
Baptist Convention SA
- Bishop A. Markos
Coptic Orthodox Church
- Bishop Shadrack Moloi
Council of African Independent Churches
- Ds N. Janse Van Rensburg
Dutch Reformed Church
- Archbishop R.K. Mcekana
Ethiopian Episcopal Church
- Mr. I. Mohlaping
Evangelical Church of SA
- Bishop A.M. Mnisi
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa
- Bishop H. Muller
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (N-T)
- Rev S.P.H. Nyambi
Evangelical Presbyterian Church in SA
- Mrs. A. Coetzee
Gereformeerde Kerk in Suid Afrika
- Archbishop B. Damaskinos
Greek Orthodox Patriachate of Johannesburg & Pretoria
- Pastor R. McCauley
Rhema International Federation of Christian Churches
- Prof J.M Manala
Maranatha Reformed Church of Christ
- Presiding Bishop Z. Siwa
Methodist Church of Southern Africa
- Rev G.R. Cunningham
Moravian Church in SA
- Rev S.S Nkumanda
Presbyterian Church of South Africa
- Mr. T. Moteane
Quackers in Southern Africa
- Major C.A Holmes
Salvation Army
23, Archbishop S. Brislin
Southern African Catholics Bishops Conference
- Rev T. Ndlazi
United Congregational Church of Southern Africa
- Rev R. Munthali
The Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa
- Professor L. Modise
Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa
- Dr. D.J Katts
Volkskerk van Afrika
- Rev. Dr. L. Ntshingwa
SACC Eastern Cape
- Dr Gideon Van Der Watt
SACC Free State
- Rev. Gift Moerane
SACC Gauteng
- Dr. Douglas Dziva
KwaZulu Natal Christian Council
- Rev. L. Mohlala
SACC Limpopo
- Rev. L. Dlamini
SACC Mpumalanga
- Rev. A. Monama
SACC Northern Cape
- Rev. L. Ramosa
SACC North West
- Rev. M. Vena
SACC Western Cape
- Mr. J. Capel
Bench Marks Foundation
- Mr. A. Wentzel
Christian Development Trust
- Rev. G. Philpott
Church Land Program
- Mrs. N. Mvambo-Dandala
Diakonia Council of Churches
- Mrs. S. Magwaza
Ecumenical Service for Socio-Economic Transformation
- Fr. M. Lapsley
Institute for Healing of Memories
- Rev M. Ntlha
The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa
- Mr. S. Sokhela
Young Men Christian Association
Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana
SACC General Secretary