Using the Canons to build up the Family of God - Sermon at St Mary's Cathedral Bicentennial celebration

St Mary the Virgin Cathedral, Diocese of Port Elizabeth

Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin

14th September 2025

Readings: Genesis 3:4-15; Psalm 84; Galatians 4: 1-7; Luke 11:27-28

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, people of God in the Diocese of Port Elizabeth and the city of Gqeberha, it is an honour and a privilege to have been asked to share with you the Word of God at this service. We celebrate a remarkable milestone as we recognise 200 years of worship and witness in this church, first the Collegiate Church of St Mary the Virgin, and now the Cathedral of the same name. On behalf of the whole Province, that is the Anglican Church across Southern Africa, I bring you our warm congratulations!

Thank you to you, Vicar-General Sharon, Canon Kula, and your leadership team, as well as the diocesan family for inviting me to join you in your celebrations. Thank you too, all of you who have worked hard behind the scenes to prepare for this service. And a special welcome to distinguished guests, fellow clergy, and to all of you, the whole wonderful family from all corners of this diocese. Your record of witness, service and ministry through God’s love and grace in this diocese is inspiring, especially during these challenging times.

That helpful little aid to our devotions, the booklet Saints and Seasons, sums up beautifully the centrality of your patronal saint to the story of Jesus. During Jesus’s life, Mary was often among the women who followed him and ministered to his needs. At his death, at Calvary, she was among the few who stood at the foot of the Cross. And after the Resurrection she was to be found with the apostles watching and praying until the coming of the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

And from a modern-day perspective, isn’t it fascinating what a prominent role Mary and other women played in the Jesus story? Scholars now highlight how unusual it was at the time Jesus lived for women to be given the role they are given in the Christian gospels. In Jewish law, women were not seen as reliable witnesses, yet the accounts of Matthew, Mark and John all record that women were the first to witness the empty tomb and the Resurrection.

Having said that about the status accorded to women in the Gospels, let me turn to our Old Testament reading, and to the account of the Fall in the Book of Genesis (Gen. 4:3-15). To modern ears, that is a more difficult read, involving as it does a man blaming a woman for his wrongdoing. The story presents to us the original transgression, the breaking of the law, and thus the entrance of sin to humanity. The serpent was the instrument of Satan, who turned the opportunities given to us by God into an avenue of temptation. The slithering movement of a reptile hidden by its camouflage in the undergrowth made it symbolically suitable as a medium for the schemings of the devil. In her exchange with the serpent, Eve accepted Satan’s violation of the law of God’s kingdom, yielding to the authority which Satan had appropriated.

However, sisters and brothers, it is important to note that although Eve was the first to stumble, the complete Fall of humanity was to involve not just deception by the woman but the transgression of the man. In the combined action of both, Satan in one stroke re-interpreted God as a devil, a liar possessed by jealous pride, and presented the path to being cursed as the way to blessing. As a result of their disobedience, sin entered the world, and a sense of shame attaching to physical nakedness manifested itself in a consciousness of inner nakedness. The evasive half-truth in Adam’s response to God about his sense of nakedness was, like his fear, an evil consequence of his rebellion.

When God saw through Adam’s behaviour, exposing his act of disobedience as a root of evil, Adam avoided confessing guilt by transferring blame. Then Eve sought to escape blame herself by pointing her finger at the serpent. Thus does Satan’s instrument, slithering in the dust, subject to trampling, become a symbol of Satan’s humiliation.

(As an aside, hearing God’s words to the serpent in today’s reading reminded me of how Archbishop Desmond Tutu used to joke that he sometimes felt sorry for the serpent—when the man was caught out, he blamed the woman, then she blamed the snake, and the poor snake, being a mere reptile which couldn’t speak, had no one else to blame! But to get back to my exegesis...)

Paul’s letter to the Galatians (4:1-7)—one of the epistles that we definitely know came from Paul’s hand—makes it clear that after the comprehensiveness of the Fall described in Genesis, our salvation as sons and daughters of God depends totally on the incarnation, the atonement and the Holy Spirit. The Gospel reading (Luke 11:27-28) brings Mary back into the picture, not as someone to be worshipped herself, but as someone who fulfills God’s word in delivering God’s instrument for rescuing humanity. We can read into the text the lesson that the Pharisees should have realised that Jesus was speaking God’s word without there being wonderful signs to confirm it.

The second century theologian Irenaeus—declared by Pope Francis in 2022 as one of the saints whose writings have special authority—draws together beautifully how God’s purpose unfolds in history, linking the witness of the Old Testament to that of the New in a way that is relevant to our readings today. The Oxford University church historian, Professor McCulloch has written of how Irenaeus loved to stress the symmetries to be discerned in the Bible: “...[T]hus the fall of the first man, Adam, was remedied by the second Adam, Christ, rising from the dead; the disobedience of the woman Eve remedied by the obedience of the woman Mary; the fateful role of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden was remedied by the Tree of Life which was Christ’s cross.”

As the people of Gqeberha, of the Eastern Cape and of South Africa, today’s readings reassure you that all of you here, members of the Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin and of the Diocese of Port Elizabeth, are part of God’s plan for the world, just as Adam and Eve, Jesus and Mary, were part of God’s plan for the world.

Understandably, sometimes it’s difficult to see that we are part of God’s plan. Is the confusion and uncertainty over the election of a new bishop of Port Elizabeth part of God’s plan? Are the current struggles in this city, in the Eastern Cape, and indeed across South Africa, part of God’s plan?

Of course this Diocese is not the only one affected by legal challenges, whether to episcopal elections or on other issues, mainly arising from the management of our human resources, which usually means relations between bishops and clergy. Although it’s very frustrating to see hundreds of thousands of rands being spent on legal fees instead of on mission—often fruitlessly because so many of the cases are not well-founded—it is in some ways understandable as people test the limits of the new rights we have under our Constitution. Given that context, the process we are going through is succeeding, case by case, in refining church order, so enhancing the predictability of how the law affects the church. We take ourselves and the needs of people affected prayerfully and seriously, trying our best to discern how to approach each matter in a way which will build up the family of God. Our Canons are much improved, we have fine people serving on our Canon Law Council and we can even dream of establishing an Institute for Canon Law at CoTT. I am pleased that we have been able to affirm that the Elective Assembly to choose a successor to Bishop Eddie will go ahead soon. Let us soak the Diocese in prayer for a new leader.

Your founding fathers planted this Cathedral Church and Diocese through turbulent times of colonialism, oppression, pandemic and sometimes of war. As you move forward with a new bishop into the next 200 years and beyond, you will be challenged to revisit your vision for the Cathedral and the Diocese for the years to come. The Diocese, birthed from a huge Diocese of Grahamstown, remains a big diocese geographically. Might you want to think of adding a Suffragan Bishop to ease the load, or perhaps of negotiating the extent of your boundaries with neighbouring dioceses in the Northern Cape and Free State? I pose these as questions, not proposals!

In public life beyond the church, you are known as a diocese steeped in the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures, powerful in your ecumenical witness with sister churches in the region, and outward looking when it comes to the challenges of the communities in which you are rooted. Like Cape Town, you have serious crime and violence problems. In Cape Town, we recently convened a meeting of leaders of all the faith groupings in the region to liaise with the Minister of Police and come up with comprehensive plans to defeat the drug-fuelled gang violence which destroys the lives of so many of our people. As Anglicans in Gqeberha and the Eastern Cape, you as the Cathedral and the Diocese are well placed to be a beacon of light, working as part of a community known for its action based on faith, action that is aimed at overcoming unemployment and inequality, action that seeks to end poverty, and action that will defeat crime and end fear. In so doing, you will make the eternal life we receive from Christ felt in the here and now, bettering the lives of many in and around Gqeberha, the rest of Eastern Cape, South Africa and beyond.

Our assurance is that God has, again and again, met people and sent them out to proclaim his truth, with clarity and courage, through difficult and challenging times in the past. And God will do so again today and in the future in this Cathedral and Diocese.

In closing, I congratulate you again very warmly on your 200^th anniversary. Celebrate it, and build upon it for the sake of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

God loves you and so do I. Amen.

The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba

Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of ACSA

"We must re-dedicate ourselves to the struggle against complacency, greed, nepotism, and the lust for power" - Archbishop

 

ARCHBISHOP THABO MAKGOBA

PRIMATE and METROPOLITAN OF THE ACSA

Diocesan Family Weekend, Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman

Archdeaconry of Molopo, Taung Central

MM Sibitloane Special School

31st August 2025

Readings: Jeremiah 2: 4-13; Psalm 81:1,10-16; Hebrews 13:1-8,15-16; Luke 14:1,7-14

May I speak in the name of God, who is Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, people of God in the Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman, it is an honour and a privilege to have been asked to share with you the Word of God here in Taung at today's service. Thank you to you, Bishop Brian, to your leadership team and the whole community for inviting me to join your Family Weekend—it's been a joyous and inspiring time for me to get away from my desk in Cape Town and to come and visit you here, where, as they say, “the rubber meets the road” in God's church. Thank you too to those who have worked hard to prepare for the weekend, for the dialogue with young people yesterday and for today's service. A special welcome to our distinguished guests, fellow clergy, and to all of you, the whole wonderful diocesan family.

Your ministry in service and witness through God’s love and grace in this part of God's world is inspiring. As the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews urges us in Chapter 10 (v. 25), do continue to encourage one another in the love of the Lord, just as you have done throughout the long history of this Diocese, for—as we heard in today's reading from Chapter 13—Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, and we are called to continue, as we are doing today, offering a sacrifice of praise to God.

The Gospel reading we have heard (Luke 14:1ff) gives us an account of Jesus’ teaching at the house of a prominent Pharisee. His teaching here is not to be regarded simply as good advice for guests, such as that offered by Solomon in his Book of Proverbs (25:6). It goes much further than that, because in urging us to humble ourselves, Jesus attaches to the act of doing so a spiritual significance, one that bears witness to the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus uses in this parable the example of how seating is arranged at a banquet, he is referring to the practice of keeping the best seats for those the world regards as being the most important, those who hold the highest rank in society. He suggests that it's better to choose a more modest seat, on the basis that you can always be called up to the top table if the host asks you to. We mustn't misunderstand this passage: Jesus is not saying we should give a public display of false modesty in the expectation that we will be exalted later by being called to the top. No, he is simply saying we should practice humility for its own sake, not because of any prestige or reward we might get. It is a plain piece of advice in line with his other teachings, condemning the attitude of doing good in the expectation of receiving either a tangible, earthly reward or even a heavenly reward.

The point is that we should seek to do good, including to those who cannot give anything in return, and leave the question of recompense or reward to God. And if we turn to the Lord we will find all the righteousness demanded by the law. Each one of us, no matter our gender, our race, our sexual orientation or our station in life—rich or poor, prominent or obscure—has the privilege of looking with unveiled faces upon the glory of the Lord our God as revealed in Christ.

Just as the readings from Hebrews and Luke challenged people of their time, and continue to challenge us today, so too does the prophecy of Jeremiah (2:4-13) when he accuses Israel of forsaking the God who brought them out of the land of Egypt; they defiled God's land, they listened to Baal, a pagan god and they preferred “profitless” gods to their own God, rendering even the heavens aghast at such sacrilege.

As the people of this Diocese, as the people of the Northern Cape, as the people of South Africa, what can we draw from today’s readings? What do they say to us in the here and now? Let's run through a quick list of what God is saying in today's readings, and ask which items on the list apply to us today in South Africa.

From Jeremiah: God freed the people from oppression in Egypt, led them through the wilderness and into the promised land, yet they defiled that land and made God's heritage an abomination. From Hebrews: Those who received the letter were urged to show hospitality to strangers; to remember prisoners; to respect marriage; to keep their lives free from the love of money; to do good and to share what they have. And from Luke's Gospel: Jesus urges his listeners to humble themselves, to invite the poor, the lame and the blind to share in what gives us life and health.

When we look at the corruption and misuse of our resources in our country today, can we honestly say that we have fully lived up to the promise offered by our liberation 30 years ago? When we see violent mobs preventing migrants from getting medical treatment, can we say we have shown hospitality to strangers? When our overcrowded prisons generate crime and violence instead of ending it, can we say we have remembered prisoners? When we look at the shocking phenomenon of domestic violence, can we say we respect marriage? And when the sons and daughters of the rich get the best opportunities in life, and become well-off themselves, while the sons daughters and sons of the poor struggle to escape the vicious cycle of deprivation that keeps them poor, can we say that we are doing good and sharing with the poor?

The answer, time and again in the South Africa of today is No. And our failures are not only of government; they are failures of the private sector also, and also failures in our own communities. We are squandering what God has bequeathed us through the generations which fought for our liberation. And that is why, despite the criticisms of the National Dialogue process which was launched earlier this month, I agreed to join the group of independent figures who have been asked to be advisers to the process. I said long before I was asked to serve that the dialogue won't work if it is dictated to by politicians, and our group of advisers is having discussions with the legacy foundations who have those concerns. My impression is that many of those who reject the dialogue either have material interests to defend or reflect a middle-class which is protected from the worst of the bad governance most of us experience, and I don't hear the critics suggest alternatives other than trotting out party manifestos.

In the 1990s we negotiated the cornerstones of our democracy through the body known as Codesa. I have long urged that we need a Codesa 2 to negotiate a new social compact governing land and the economy, and the National Dialogue gives us our best shot at doing that. The evidence I see, particularly from rural communities such as my own in Limpopo province, is that most ordinary South Africans agree. I am obsessed with the need for solutions beyond talk. For as the Scripture says, faith without action is dead. (James 2:17) A group of respected grassroots organisations including shack-dwellers, housing activists and human rights groups which is attending the dialogue has acknowledged that the process is flawed and its ambitions may be unrealistic. “Yet," the group says, "It marks a radical departure from past government-led engagements. In some ways, it is a quiet admission: the fate of the nation cannot be left to a government that has poor political will and evidently no solutions. For once, the call is going to the public—overwhelmingly poor and working-class—for answers.”

The National Dialogue will involve nearly 14,000 community dialogues at ward, district and sectoral levels. Given the levels of dissatisfaction at the grassroots in our society, any politician who thinks he or she can control the process is sorely mistaken, The process can generate new policies and even new political parties. So I urge all of you at every level to make your voices heard: in Taung, in Kuruman, in Bathlaros, in Danielskuil, in Upington, in Kimberley and in every town and district in the Diocese, take possession of the process and organise around it. And I would urge every South African, in every community in the country, to follow your example.

Please pray that we will recognise that the chasm between the rich and poor in South Africa cannot be tolerated any longer, and that we will act on that recognition. We have a New Struggle as South Africans, one which replaces the old struggle against apartheid, and that is a New Struggle to regain our moral compass, to end economic inequality, to bring about equality of opportunity and to realise the promises enshrined in our Constitution.

We must re-dedicate ourselves to the struggle against complacency, greed, nepotism, and the lust for power; to the struggle against the pursuit of narrow self-interest, personal gain, status, and material wealth – in short let us commit ourselves to the struggle for true justice, including economic justice.

Let me return to why we are gathered here in Taung, which is to celebrate Diocesan Family Day. What is a family in Jesus’s eyes? A family consists of those who are doing the will of God (Matt. 12:50). In other words, the relationships that count are not physical, but moral and spiritual. Our aim must be to belong with Jesus to the family of our one Father in heaven and to do God's will. It is my hope that we can be that family of Jesus.

Let me end with the words of Paul to the Ephesians: ”Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom of God will ever see me again. I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with His own blood. I now commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.’ (Acts 20:25ff)

Congratulations on organising such a wonderful weekend, full of celebrations as a diocesan family. I invite you to turn to loving ways and to become conduits of God's peace. God loves you, and so do I. God bless this Diocese, this Province, South Africa and the world. Amen.

* * * * *

Sermon for the Centenary Celebrations of the Diocese of Namibia, St Mary's, Odibo

ARCHBISHOP THABO MAKGOBA

PRIMATE and METROPOLITAN OF THE ACSA

Centenary Celebrations, Diocese of Namibia

St Mary’s Parish, Odibo

23rd August 2025 

Readings: Ruth 2: 1-11, 4: 13-17; Psalm 128; Matthew 23:1 -12

May I speak in the name of God, who is Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen.

Your Excellency Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President of the Republic, we are proud and privileged that you are with us today, more especially since you are an alumnus of St Mary’s Odibo High School and you are also a member of the Order of Simon of Cyrene, the highest honour the church can confer on a lay Anglican. Thank you for being here. And Bishop Patrick, I want to express my gratitude to you and your team for all the hard work you have put in to enable this celebration to happen. 

Reflecting on South Africa's National Dialogue

 Report to the Church on the National Convention

The National Dialogue which has attracted so much controversy in recent weeks kicked off with a National Convention on Friday and Saturday August 15 and 16 at the University of South Africa campus in Tshwane. As a member of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) advising the dialogue, I was able to attend proceedings on the first day.

Leading up to the Convention, we were challenged by the withdrawal from the planning process of some legacy foundations which had been co-creators of the dialogue with other civil society groups. As a result, a new organising committee was established, and the EPG met with the committee nearly every day, anxious that the Convention should be as inclusive and effective as possible. I do hope we will find each other as South Africans and bring foundations and other parties and structures around the table to create a path together for the good of all. We owe it to each other and those on the margins of society.

Proceedings on the first day started with fierce and fiery voices from NGOs and others. President Ramaphosa took an upbeat approach and sounded determined to make the dialogues—which will unfold in the months ahead—work effectively. In a session—which was too rushed—we then heard from panellists who unpacked how previous national dialogues, both abroad and in South Africa, had worked, and what we could learn from them.

After that we were divided into thematic groups, and I chose the group on the economy. As I said before the Convention, although I know many are sceptical about the Dialogue, the single most important reason I agreed to serve is my belief that if we don’t fundamentally reform our economy to give better opportunities to the poor, our country will be in real trouble.

In our first session we were asked to share our dreams for South Africa. Some of the sharing revealed painful experiences: a small boy raped by men, a father whose daughter suffered femicide, and many other challenges. We discussed what type of conversations need to happen when Dialogue participants meet with people in local communities. Overall, the demands were for radical change, for a much more rapid response to the problems which inflict communities, with an emphasis on making a real impact in rebuilding and healing our society.

Unlike the opening sessions of the Convention, where attendees were meant to be cerebral and polite, the voices in the groups were impassioned. Initially I feared we were going too deeply into issues, too soon. But as people began to open up, we saw vividly how people in our society are hurting, tired angry and fearful for the future. We need to hear those voices. But we are opening wounds, and as the Dialogue spreads into communities, we will need counsellors, or pastors or psychologists on hand.

I left hopeful but worried. Hopeful because since the Zuma Administration, I have been calling for a New Struggle to replace the old struggle against apartheid—a struggle which would include something like the Codesa talks which ended apartheid, including a national grassroots conversation and a “Codesa II” for the economy and the land. The themes of this opening Convention seem to reflect the pillars of what a New Struggle entails. But I do worry that we are ill prepared for containing and directing the feelings that will erupt as we open wounds.

I am also obsessed with the need for solutions beyond talk. For as the Scripture says, faith without action is dead. (James 2:17) The tensions we face in the dialogues which will now unfold have been summarised well by a group of respected grassroots organisations including the the shack-dwellers movement, Abahlali BaseMjondolo, the housing activists, Ndifuna Ukwazi and Reclaim The City, as well as rights groups such as Equal Education, Right2Know, the Rural Women’s Assembly and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa.

In a statement explaining why they are taking part, this group says the National Dialogue in this form is flawed and its ambitions may be unrealistic. It goes on to add: “Yet it marks a radical departure from past government-led engagements. In some ways, it is a quiet admission: the fate of the nation cannot be left to a government that has poor political will and evidently no solutions. For once, the call is going to the public—overwhelmingly poor and working-class—for answers.

“The poor and working class have long been denied a seat at the table, despite holding valid, urgent solutions. That is why we are here: to disrupt any drift towards a state- or NGO-centric process and to ensure grassroots voices are centred.”

The SACC National Church Leaders group has said we face a historical moment that should not be wasted. They are committed to help create an inclusive, transparent and credible process which will help build “a unified, reconciled, transformed and healed society.”

Speaking for myself, our country, and especially the poor and the marginalised, desperately need an initiative such as this. We cannot afford to let it fail.

††Thabo Cape Town

Ad Laos - To the People of God – August 2025

 Dear People of God, 

Phew! What a season! Since last writing to you, I seem to have been travelling constantly, to celebrations and commemorations of Anglicans who have played a significant role in the life of the Church, to intensive discussions of the crisis in the Middle East, and most recently to South Africa’s National Convention, the meeting which kicked off the National Dialogue.

I was privileged to preach at the thanksgiving service at St Alban’s Cathedral in Pretoria celebrating the 80th birthday of Professor Nyameko Barney Pityana, whom I lauded as one of the great clerics, scholars and South Africans of our generation. You can read my sermon here >>

Sadly, we have lost a number of prominent figures this winter: in the Eastern Cape, Professor Peter Tshobisa Mtuze has been accurately described by Rhodes University as “a towering figure” in academia, literature and the church. 

In Cape Town, Geoff Burton, who has served us at Parish, Diocesan and Provincial level in just about every capacity you can imagine, has died. In a message I sent for his memorial service, I highlighted his extraordinary care for the homeless. 

I fortunately managed to get to the funeral in the Eastern Cape of Professor Lulama Ntshingwa, whom I got to know best when I was Bishop of Grahamstown—long after he had become renowned in the region for his commitment to justice. Again, I had the privilege of preaching at the service >>

We are struggling in the church to find the words to express our distress and anger at the continuing crisis in Gaza, and now also the Occupied West Bank. With the civil war in Sudan, I regard it as one of the great moral challenges of our time. Responding to the news that Palestinians desperate for food aid were being killed at the very sites from which it is being distributed, I issued a statement saying that “I weep at the starvation of the people of Gaza. I weep at the killing of civilian men, women and children in revenge for the Hamas killings of October 2023. I weep at the evidence of the ethnic cleansing of Gaza as we watch.” 

Soon afterwards, I accepted an invitation to join a meeting on the crisis held by Churches for Middle East Peace at the centre founded by former President Jimmy Carter in Atlanta in the United States. You can read my personal reflections on the situation, and especially on the lessons of our campaign against apartheid. 

Back in Cape Town, I took the opportunity at a combined Confirmation Service for Anglican schools in Cape Town to urge our people to form prayer cells, and to fast, pray and advocate for an end to the killing and the human rights violations, and for a just peace which guarantees stability and respect for the rights of all.

Lastly I delivered the opening address at a meeting of the G20 Interfaith Forum, whose mission is to help shape a more inclusive and ethical world through dialogue and serving those in need. The forum is informally linked to the meetings of the G20 group of nations, the body which South Africa is hosting this year and which includes the world’s major economies, representing 85 percent of global GDP and two-thirds of the world’s population. 

I will reflect separately on this blog in a day or two on the National Convention on August 15, but went from there to an Investiture Ceremony of the Order of St John, of which I am Prior in South Africa. The investiture was beautiful and full of hope, reminding me of the ideals for which so many fought and died in South Africa—a non-racial, non-sexist democratic South Africa which is, as our Constitution says, united in our diversity. 

Thank you for upholding me in your prayers in all my diverse activities, and please continue to do so. Also please pray for the Diocese of the Highveld, which is undergoing great difficulties, for other Dioceses which are awaiting the election of new bishops—Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Johannesburg—and for the meeting of the Synod of Bishops in September.

God bless.

††Thabo Cape Town

Ubuntu in Action - An address to the IF20 Interfaith Forum in South Africa

IF20 Interfaith Forum in South Africa

Ubuntu in Action - Focus on Vulnerable Communities, leaving no-one behind

Cape Town, 11^th August 2025

Opening address

Archbishop Dr Thabo Makgoba

 

 Introduction

It is a great privilege to welcome you in one of the most beautiful cities of the world to this important international Interfaith Forum in the year of South Africa’s G20 leadership.

The importance of the G20 summits as a global forum has been underlined by their response to the 2008 global financial crisis, the Covid 19 pandemic, and the broadening of their agenda to include the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The G20 Interfaith Forum was launched in 2014 during the summit in Australia. With 84% of the world's population affiliated with a religious faith, this forum can reflect, influence and shape the values and actions of people in our world. It is therefore an indispensable voice in the global debate.

The Forum draws on the global work of many faith communities that address the challenges and priorities of global agendas. Although it is not part of the formal “constellation” of engagement groups around the G20, it partners and works closely with several of the formal groups, such as the C20 (civil society) and T20 (think tank) meetings.²

However, the distinctive contribution of the religious sector, of faith communities, is not based on our numbers but rather on our core values which shape our focus and actions. In South Africa, in continuity with last year's theme of “leaving no one behind,” we focus on the needs of the most vulnerable in our society. In our Christian tradition, we rely on the passage in John's Gospel (10:10), where the teacher we follow says, “I have come that you may have abundant life” – that means we aspire to an abundant life really for all, not only for those with powerful connections in politics or business.

It is our shared responsibility to remind a world which is in war and turmoil that – regardless of geopolitical alliances or the divides between North and South, between the rich and the poor, between the powerful or and powerless – we have a shared origin and a common destiny: we are all part of God’s creation and created by God to love and serve one another.

We live in a world that we have not created, and for a very short time. We are only stewards of God's creation. The global climate crisis and the AIDS and Covid-19 pandemics underlined our fundamental connectedness, and highlighted the imperative that that we must seek global solutions for health challenges, poverty and food insecurity, and promote economic development for all.

 

South Africa’s G20 Presidency focus³

The South African government has located its Presidency of the G20 this year in a world, and I quote, that “is facing a series of overlapping and mutually reinforcing crises, including climate change, underdevelopment, inequality, poverty, hunger, unemployment, technological changes and geopolitical instability “. And this is at a time when there are only five years to go before the deadline to reach the UN's the Sustainable Development Goals⁴.

Although our faith is always fundamentally about more than any developmental agenda, more than any current political or economic ideology, we support the SDGs because we are convinced that they are in line with God's vision for us and our world.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has highlighted that only 12% of the SDG targets are currently on track to being met. About half of the goals call for more substantial progress if they are to be reached, and more than 30% have either stalled or been reversed. Only a fundamental shift in approach and accelerated implementation will be able to achieve them.

In this context South Africa’s Presidency has identified inequality as one of the key causes of the lack of progress. Again, I quote: “Inequality poses a significant threat to global economic growth, development, and stability, as the disparities in wealth and development within and between countries are both unjust and unsustainable. Inequality and its deleterious consequences are especially evident in the Global South.”

It further highlights the “lack of predictable and sustainable financing for development” which is exacerbated by the high levels of sovereign debt, and the conflict between developmental programmes and the servicing of debt.⁵

South Africa has declared that it aims, and again I quote, “to address these urgent challenges by building partnerships across all sectors of society, acting in the interests of our shared humanity. In the spirit of Ubuntu, we recognise that individual nations cannot thrive in isolation. Countries that attempt to prosper alone amid widespread poverty and underdevelopment contradict the essence of Ubuntu and our collective humanity. This understanding reflects the transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs, which are dedicated to ensuring that no one is left behind.”⁶

South Africa has embraced the theme “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability” to tackle the multiple global challenges we are facing: “Through solidarity,” we say, “we can create an inclusive future centred on people. Solidarity will allow us to develop our societies in a way that reflects our shared humanity. In our interconnected world, the challenges faced by one nation impact all nations.”

Further “by promoting equality, we strive to ensure fair treatment and equal opportunities for all individuals and nations, regardless of their economic status, gender, race, geographic location or any other characteristic.”

And finally, Sustainability involves meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Furthermore, looking at the process of how we achieve our goals, our government highlights how decision-making has traditionally worked best in Africa. It says: ““Guided by the spirit of Ubuntu, decision-making and governance in traditional African societies has, in the main, operated by way of consensus for what is in the best interest of all.”⁷

 

South African IF20 focus points

In this year's deliberations, we have inherited Brazil's Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty declaration. This is a unique opportunity for us to lead by example. As religious leaders, we must ensure that our governments translate this international commitment into concrete policies and programs that address the food insecurity crisis facing millions of people world-wide.⁸ At an IF 20 webinar on the 10^th of July this year—a seminar which focussed on the role of Inter-religious actors in addressing Hunger and Poverty, Renier Koegelenberg asked:

Why are people (especially children) dying of hunger globally, and in South Africa? How do we deal with this moral scandal, when:

• There are enough funding and resources available to prevent it.

• There is enough excellent research being done to address this scandal by excellent units at universities and NGOs.

• There are enough examples and case studies of faith-based, NGO and Business networks that successfully address food security and holistic support to vulnerable families – that can be scaled up.⁹

Turning to why, having identified that hunger can be overcome, we have not done it, we need to ask, as Renier did:

• Is it not simply a question of priorities; a lack of political will, and often the wrong/bad allocation of national resources?

If our values shape our priorities, we cannot tolerate this scandal. In a world focused on “wealth creation” and “wealth management” (mostly for a selected few), we as faith leaders must focus on our common humanity, and abundant life for all.

At a recent colloquium I co-hosted in Cape Town,¹⁰ Katherine Marshall summarized the priority areas of focus as follows:¹¹

1. Food security and poverty. Food security, with its strong links to addressing poverty and inequality, is a leading issue, driving the Global Alliance launched by the G20 in Brazil and inspiring both South Africa and the African Union. The topic extends from the very local to the very global. IF20 builds on global faith inspired efforts to address hunger; examples include the World Council of Churches, the Caritas organizations, PaRD (International Partnership for Religion and Sustainable Development), World Vision, and countless others.

In some of the IF20 publications available, there are numerous examples of international, regional and local projects initiated by faith leaders and faith communities.

1. Economic and Financial Action. Fiscal and debt crises confront many countries, particularly in Africa, and hinder poverty alleviation and climate action, as well as government capacities to provide basic services like education, health care, water supply, disaster response, and job creation. Religious communities link economic and financial issues to equity and thriving, notably through their focus on 2025 as a Jubilee year.

1. Addressing interreligious tensions. This can be done through education and enhancing understanding of religious matters. The foundational Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy (CCRL) program and Arigatou International’s Ethics Education and Learning to Live Together programmes offer potential to strengthen regional and global approaches and address issues of violence and conflict linked to religious actors. Many religious groups work to address gender-based violence and action to support women, children, and families—for example, their physical and mental health, inequalities, and fair, equitable treatment.

1. Migration and refugee movements, human trafficking, and modern slavery present major challenges to leaders and to communities, with distinctive relevance for Africa. IF20’s continuing work highlights extensive religious teaching and practices supporting policies and action to support those on the move, especially those who are most vulnerable. Fear of migrants and refugees affects politics in many settings and calls for religious advocacy for compassion and care. IF20’s longstanding focus on the urgent need for multinational action on human trafficking will underpin 2025 advocacy.

1. . Disaster prevention, response, recovery. Active religious involvement, as first responders, at regional and global levels and through policy and programmatic analysis, play vital roles. Disaster relief is closely tied to widely varied environmental challenges, including rainforest destruction and climate movements/migration, underlining the needed focus on prevention, building resilience, and meaningful capacities to respond.

As South Africans, our appeal is to our own President, Cyril Ramaphosa, and other government leaders also to prioritize these agenda points.

 

 The Ubuntu Challenge: meaningful partnerships

At our recent Cape Town Colloquium, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, President of the South African Council of Churches, emphasized that “Food security is not just about calories; it’s about ubuntu, our interconnected humanity. When children die of malnutrition while food rots in warehouses, when fertile land lies barren while people queue for grants, and when communities that once fed themselves now depend on handouts, our ubuntu is broken…”

Again, the precepts of Ubuntu offer a solution. When government, business, faith communities, and citizens work together with mutual respect and shared responsibility, when we treat people as agents rather than objects, and when we build systems that empower rather than create dependency, then we restore not just food security, but human dignity.”¹²

Therefore, our appeal should be:

Firstly, to our governments: Use the G20 platform to champion not just emergency relief, but sustainable food systems that empower people. Learn from Brazil's success but adapt solutions to our African context. Part of this must include providing enough budgetary allocations for agriculture in national budgets. 

Address the critical issue of partnership between government and civil society. A failure to work together undermines the effectiveness of social development programmes, including food security initiatives. Too often, our government adopts an approach of wanting to “do it alone,” systematically excluding churches and faith communities from programme implementation, opting for isolation over collaboration.

Faith communities have the organizational structure and unwavering commitment to provide social services and advance the development that governments desperately need. We are present in every corner of our country—in cities and in the most remote rural areas where government services barely reach. More importantly, we have deep personal connections with communities that most government officials cannot replicate. Instead of viewing faith communities as competitors or obstacles, governments should provide funding and support to leverage our existing infrastructure and community trust.

Secondly, our appeal should be to Business Leaders: It is time to go beyond just making donations; let us focus on making real investments. Partner with our communities to help build local capacity and create sustainable livelihoods. There are numerous partnerships between Business and NGOs, between Business and Faith-Based Community Development Programmes: the work of the CDDC Trust and Kumba Iron Ore mine in our Northen Cape mining region – focussing on food security and support to vulnerable families, are good examples.

Thirdly, let us appeal to our own Faith Communities: We have a vital role to play in shifting from dependency to empowerment. Our moral authority comes with a practical responsibility to lead this change.

Fourthly, an appeal to Our People: It is time to reclaim your dignity as producers, not just consumers. The land that once sustained our ancestors can nourish us again.

As we join the G20 process and work on our national development agenda, let us remember that our success will not be measured by the size of our grants or how efficiently we deliver services. Instead, it will be about whether our children can hold their heads high, knowing they live in communities that produce, create, and sustain themselves.

The choice is in our hands. We can either continue the cycle of dependency or choose the more challenging but dignifying path of empowerment. Our people are ready for this change.

The real question is: Are we, as Church and faith leaders, prepared to lead them there?

Conclusion

If the world fails to achieve the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals – which seems almost certain right now, it will not be due to the lack of numerous and costly high-level Governmental summits, or of high-level ministerial meetings, different tracks, task forces, working groups, and engagement groups. Nor will it be for the lack experts and technical advisors. It will be a result of the lack of commitment to set the correct priorities and to build meaningful partnerships.

The world does not only need a new technical “developmental paradigm” to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs. It rather needs a new “heart”: a correction of priorities based on values, on ethical, servant leadership – not only to “tolerate” your neighbour, but to love your neighbour as you love yourself; caring for our environment, caring for future generations, so that they too can prosper! This is real stewardship, ethical leadership. The reformer Martin Luther defined sin as “being bent on your own personal needs,” whereas real freedom means to serve the needs of others.

As the first country in the “Global South” to host the G20, bringing North and South, East and West agendas together, we are challenged to transcend historic ideological differences and legacies to advance real democracy and human dignity.¹³

Especially in the Global South we should not be hypocritical. We cannot expect change only from the rich Global North; we need to be self-critical about conditions and priorities within our own countries and regions. Our political elites and those close to power live in a luxury bubble of affluence, absorbing national resources, while most of their people, especially children and women, struggle to survive, to feed themselves, to find jobs.

It is our moral duty to speak out against hate, racism, the instrumentalization of different faiths for political reasons and nationalist ideologies that exclude others – and channel our energy and wisdom to life-giving programmes that foster the dignity and abundant life of all. ¹⁴

In our current global context, amidst increased geo-global political tensions and wars raging in Ukraine and Russia, the Middle East, Sudan and other parts of Africa, more and more resources are being channelled into weapons production and security arrangements, this at the expense of health and social programmes.

Therefore, our plea as faith leaders to global leaders is to “Put People First” – pump resources into “life-enhancing programmes” and strengthen peace-making efforts to stop violent conflicts.¹⁵

Beyond our moral role as faith leaders lies the reality that our faith networks are some of the most trusted, efficient partners that reach all people at grassroots level. That is why we appeal to political and business leaders, to work and partner with us – after all, we are all instruments in God’s hands.

Our mission, as Katherine Marshall told us, is “to highlight the common themes, and above all to keep a laser focus on the problems of the most vulnerable, particularly children, women, refugees, the hungry, and too many other groups. “¹⁶

Our faith therefore demands of us that worship should drive us from our knees, and send us out from our churches, our mosques and our temples to engage the world and ensure that our Creator’s intention is fulfilled.¹⁷

May our Creator bless this gathering, and all those gathered. Once again, welcome to Cape Town.

1 Archbishop Dr Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town

2 Katherine Marshall, Vice President G20 Interfaith Association: Brasilia: Leave No one Behind. The G20 Interfaith Forum – our journey. August 20, 2024

3 https://g20.org/g20-south-africa/g20-presidency/

4 Mr Antonio Guterres, the Special Edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Progress Report on 25 April 2023; https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2023/

5 https://g20.org/g20-south-africa/g20-presidency/

6 Ibid

7 Ibid

8 Bishop Dr Sithembele Sipuka, Addressing food security in South Africa: a call for Empowerment and Partnership, Bishopscourt colloquium, 12 June 2025,

9 See IF 20 webinar: The role of Inter-religious actors in addressing Hunger and Poverty,”, 10 July 2025; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8Mf7xo8m9E

10 NCLC and IF20 colloquium, 12-13 June 2025: Strengthening Democracy and Human Dignity in South Africa and beyond.

11 Katherine Marshall, “G20 Interfaith Association meeting in Cape Town: Ubuntu in Action: Focus on Vulnerable Communities, August 10-14, 2025, Bishopscourt colloquium, 12 June 2025,

12 Bishop Dr Sithembele Sipuka, Addressing food security in South Africa: a call for Empowerment and Partnership, Bishopscourt colloquium, 12 June 2025

13 See our NCLC Bishopscourt Statement, 13 June2025, Cape Town: Strengthening Democracy and Human Dignity in South Africa and beyond.

14 See my recent message to G20 Interfaith/PaRD meeting in Brasilia Forum, 22 August 2024,

15 Makgoba UNAIDS virtual address, UNAIDS at AIDS2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference, Munich, 20 July 2024

16 Katherine Marshall, Bishopscourt, 12 June 2025

17 See my address to Communities of Faith Breakfast: building Partnerships for a One-Community Response to HIV, Prioritizing Children in the HIV Response, hosted by UNAIDS, Washington.