ACSA wishes Church of Nigeria successful national elections

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has wished the Church of Nigeria well and assured Nigerians of our prayers for their national legislative and presidential elections, being held today, Saturday February 25. 

More than 87 million Nigerians are registered to vote. They will elect a new president, vice-president, 109 senators and 360 members of the Federal House of Representatives. 

Ahead of the elections, the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) called for three days of intentional prayer and published a list of minimum demands of political parties and their candidates >>

Yesterday (Friday), Archbishop Thabo sent the following message to the Most Revd Dr Ali Buba Lamido, Dean of the Church Of Nigeria, Archbishop of the Church's Kaduna Province and Bishop of Wusasa Diocese: 

Dear Archbishop Lamido,

On behalf of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, myself and my wife, Lungi Makgoba, we send you and the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and all the people of Nigeria strength and best wishes as you go to the polls tomorrow to elect a President of the country.

May the elections be free and fair, and whoever is elected, accepted, supported and held to account as they serve all Nigerians. Finally we pray that the elections will be peaceful even as the Prince of Peace soaks you in love and His grace. Send my greetings the Primate too. 

Thabo Cape Town, Southern Africa

A Homily for Ash Wednesday

 ARCHBISHOP THABO MAKGOBA

ASH WEDNESDAY EUCHARIST 

St George's Cathedral

22nd FEBRUARY 2023

Readings: Isaiah 58:1-12, Psalm 51:1-17, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

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

Thank you Mr Dean and your team, together with the Cathedral Churchwardens, for preparing for this service so well. I am always encouraged to be with you in this service as we begin a new season in the calendar, ending the season of the Epiphany and beginning that of Lent.

Every year, Ash Wednesday and Lent give us the opportunity to re-consider our dependence on God’s grace in transforming our lives for the better. This year our lives as South Africans have been turned upside down, so much so that it is hard to focus on what it means to work to transform them for the better, other than to pray for a quick solution to load-shedding and for relief from the effects of the floods that have displaced so many. 

Nonetheless, the size of the challenges that face our worshipping communities, our places of work and our families as a result of the scandalous gap between the rich and the poor underlines how totally dependent we are on God at this difficult time in our and our country's lives. 

Today's passage from Isaiah, written in captivity in Babylon, as well as the passage from Matthew, and the context in which we read them, remind us as never before the importance of discerning the times as we embark on our journey through Lent, Passion-tide and to Easter.

Ash Wednesday and Lent this year invite us to dig deeper, and to attempt to imitate the Holiness of God in our moral and ethical living in our society. As we contemplate how we should be working for the common good in our democracy, it is – perhaps as never before – a time for stock-taking, for deepening our faith, for repentance and renewal, and for focusing on God rather than seeking praise or affirmation for ourselves. 

Our efforts to fast and pray during Lent are important and necessary. But both of today's passages ask us not simply to reduce our consumption but rather pose a deeper question: to what end are we fasting and praying? They challenge us to move out of our comfort zones, and to repudiate conceit. They call on us to put God first, and in South Africa today to speak up and speak out against the abuse of God's children, the corruption which is disrupting our society, the exploitation and oppression of the powerless and the inequality of opportunity that afflicts the poor. And not only do they demand we speak up and speak out, they demand that we then do something about it.

To be more specific, the abuse we are called to speak out against this Lent includes in particular the scourge of gender-based violence. Against the backdrop of the surge in activism on this issue, it is deeply disturbing to see how many so-called celebrities are not adequately being called out for their misogyny. We are also called to speak out in particular against the corruption which plagues Eskom and the energy industry, such as in the supply of coal to power stations. 

In the international arena, we must remain relentless in speaking out against nations pursuing their national interests through aggression and war. After my visit to Ukraine at Christmas, of course we have to repudiate all aggressors but I reject the view that because we distrust the strategic designs of the West and especially of NATO, we should overlook the flagrant breach of the United Nations Charter by Russia's invasion of a sovereign nation. 

At the same time, those of us living in the Global South have reason to fear the escalating words of war coming from world leaders. As the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, has said, it is not as if the world is sleepwalking into a wider war, we fear that it is doing so with its eyes wide open. The warlike rhetoric coming out of Europe raises the dreadful prospect of Europe and the West dragging us into yet another world war, with all the untold death and suffering it would bring. 

The issues around the invasion of Ukraine are difficult and contested, but on one thing we must be clear: as the Church, our calling as those who aspire to inherit the Kingdom promised by the Prince of Peace is, no matter the circumstances, to be active peace-makers, and constantly to refrain from being carried along by events into supporting death and destruction.

This Lent, let us recommit ourselves to being restorers and repairers of human dignity as we strive for the common good. Let us condemn violence against women and children with renewed vigour. Please pray for an end to political polarisation and for a common understanding of what it will take to renew our society. Pray that we will recognise that the chasm between the rich and poor cannot be tolerated any longer, and that we will act on that recognition.

As South Africans our New Struggle must seek to regain our moral compass, end economic inequality,  bring about equality of opportunity and realise the promises enshrined in our Constitution.  

Let us also re-dedicate ourselves to the struggle against greed, corruption, 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. 

Put simply, as we enter Lent I invite you to turn to loving ways and become conduits of His peace.

God loves you, and so do I. God bless South Africa. Amen.

*  *  *  *  *

To the Laos – Message ahead of Lent 2023

Dear People of God

Returning to my office on February 8^th after my post-Christmas leave, and going through some of the correspondence on my desk, showed me at what a fast pace the world is moving, with some issues appearing urgent when they came in now overtaken by events.
    I don't usually share personal matters in this space, but please join my intercessors in praying for our son, Nyakallo, who – battling with adjusting to life as an independent adult – misjudged his medical and basic food needs recently to the point where he was detained by police. Thank you for your prayers for travelling mercies when I went to Ukraine just before Christmas. The escalating words of war coming from world leaders in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine is very worrying. The United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, says it is not as if the world is “sleepwalking” into a wider war: “I fear it is doing so with its eyes wide open.” Some fear a possible third world war, which would lead to untold death and suffering, as if there is not more than enough already, from Cabo Delgado to Somalia to Palestine and Yemen. All of this underlines the need for us to be active peace-makers, and constantly to refrain from being carried along by events into supporting death and destruction.
    Towards the end of my holiday break, I started the year with a visit to the United Kingdom, where I spoke at the London Stock Exchange at the launch of a new initiative to reform the mining industry so that it does not harm people and damage the environment. This arises from concern at, for example, the impact of tailings dam failures such as we saw at Jagersfontein in the Free State last year, when one person died, people lost their homes and property and livelihoods were disrupted. In 2019, in Brumadinhno in the eastern part of Brazil, about 270 people died following a collapse of a dam. Tragedies such as these bring home to us the reality of ecological injustice, which is a consequence of the poorest in our communities facing powerful mining companies with deep pockets to pay for litigation to avoid reparation. As we pursue economic justice, it cannot be business as usual for the mining companies which continue to be a big employer of black South Africans.
    Returning to work last week, I gave the concluding remarks at a forum of leading lawyers which discussed how to reform our legal tools to enable the successful investigation and prosecution of crime, especially cases of corruption, and to protect whistle-blowers. I repeated my call for the protection of whistle-blowers in remarks read for me by Dean Michael Weeder of Cape Town at an event in St George's Cathedral, entitled “The Real State of the Nation Address” the day before President Ramaphosa gave his State of the Nation Address. I am glad that in SONA, the president seems to have noted the cry by South Africans of the need to protect whistle-blowers and that key polices will be in place to do so.
    Hunger and desperate poverty are real in South Africa. Our parishes are taking strain but continue to give and enable us to feed the hungry and to preach and live a message of hope. Thank you for your sustained giving, which also enables us to send students to the College of the Transfiguration, ensuring that we have pastors and teachers of faith even in the midst of suffering and global challenges. Please continue to pray for those affected by natural disasters and conflict in Turkiye, Syria and Mozambique at this time.
    Please also pray for the land called holy, for an end to the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, and for lasting peace in Palestine and Israel. This Lent, we will be focussing our Bible studies on deepening our understanding of the issues of the Holy Land. Please do join in and engage with the Lenten Bible studies. I know we have different understandings and views on this issue, but let us study together and pray together. The Bible study can be downloaded here [PDF] >>
    Pray too for the Anglican Consultative Council meeting, ACC-18, which is taking place in Ghana at present. The ACC is a Communion-wide consultative body which comprises a lay person, a priest and a bishop from each of the world's Anglican provinces. We are represented at ACC-18 by Senzo Mbhele, the Revd Natalie Simons-Arendse and Bishop Stephen Diseko of Matlosane, Dean of our Province.
    Finally, pray for the Synod of Bishops, which is to be held in person for the first time since before the coronavirus lockdown was imposed in March 2020. We will apprise you about the outcomes in next month’s Ad Laos. In the meantime, “hold fast to what is good”- 1 Thes. 5:21

God bless,

††Thabo Cape Town

A Message to the People of Turkiye & Syria

The Real State of the South African Nation - Address to 'Defend our Democracy'

Defend our Democracy: The Real SONA

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

Remarks 

8th February 2023

Defend our Democracy @ St Georges Cathedral, Cape Town 

Comrades, 

Colleagues and 

Fellow defenders of democracy! 

I wanted to start with, “Amandla, Awethu!!” But nowadays, we have delegated our power, the peoples’ power, to a few, most of whom appear self- serving. 

Thank you for the privilege of asking me to share some  thoughts with you today. It's important that you have rallied together in this, the People's Cathedral, to examine the real state of the nation, a nation in which we have won political but not economic liberation, a nation in which we are still haunted by the scandalous gap between the rich and the poor. In these days, when too many of our leaders, tempted by the lure of quick wealth, have become sell-outs to the struggle against apartheid, it's important that we step up our activism to stop the slide downwards into becoming a failed state. 

My message today is simple, and it is this: 

To save South Africa today we need to embark on a New Struggle to replace the old struggle against apartheid, a New Struggle for a new generation, a struggle to regain our moral compass, a struggle to end economic inequity, a struggle to bring about equality of opportunity and realise the promises of our Constitution. 

Three quick points:

Firstly, we must recognise that the fight against corruption will be as tough as that against apartheid. It will take the same level of courage as our mothers and fathers displayed in the old struggle, for it is becoming clear that the criminals responsible for the plague of corruption which threatens to engulf us will fight hard to stay out of orange jumpsuits, deploying even death squads to silence us, just as the criminals who enforced apartheid did. 

But, Amandla Ngawetu!! In this real SONA, we must commit to securing much better protection for those who blow the whistle on corruption. We say to President Ramaphosa: “Mr President, in your State of the Nation address, you must spell out practical action to achieve protection for whistle-blowers, and we demand that your  commitment be acted upon immediately.” 

Secondly, at the bedrock of our democracy is the promise that those in public life will pursue the common good so that everyone can flourish. But that has not happened. Load-shedding or rolling black-outs have revealed South Africa’s gross inequalities once again; those with means have inverters, batteries and solar power, and can dine out; but those without have no lights, their food rots in their fridges, thieves steal their electricity, many are jobless, and worst of all their children can't study most nights. And so I believe it is our sacred duty at this real SONA to ensure that WE CALL as loudly as we can for an end to the blackouts, or at least to have spelled out a clear, practical timetable detailing the steps which will be taken to end them.

Lastly, a challenge to ourselves at this real SONA, and that is this:

We need to create a multi-stakeholder forum to pursue the New Struggle. As I have said before, an uncoordinated constellation of independent movements is not enough. We need a coalition that embraces all voices, from the poor to the spiritual leaders of our country, to the leaders of business and labour. We need an alliance of leaders and forces to say: “Enough is enough!”

That alliance must include the youth and one of its primary objectives in securing the future should be registering young people to register to vote, then they must be motivated to vote and help change government policies.

It is time to heal our political polarisations and to recognise that the chasms between rich and poor cannot be tolerated any longer. The New Struggle cannot be for a new, multiracial middle class to live as the white elite lived under apartheid. No, our struggle now must be for a new society, a more equal society, a society of equality of opportunity in which the wealth that comes from new economic growth is shared equitably among all. Our country's future, the futures of our children, our grandchildren and the generations to come, depend on it.

*  *  *  *  *

 

Reforming Criminal Justice Administration in South Africa

 Reforming Criminal Justice Administration in South Africa

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

Closing remarks 

6th February 2023

Accountability Now @ University of Cape Town Law Faculty 

Distinguished Judges,

Academics, 

Campaigners for human rights and clean government,

Sponsors of this event:

Thank you for the privilege of inviting me to join those who are giving closing remarks to this important forum. 

I am here to deliver a simple message, one that I've been preaching since it became clear that too many of our leaders had become sell-outs to the struggle against apartheid, tempted by the lure of quick wealth to put us on the road to a failed state.

As I said during the Zuma administration, “It sometimes feels as if some of our leaders stopped their fight for a new South Africa at the point at which they joined the ranks of those who corruptly and immorally amassed wealth under colonialism and apartheid.”

The root of our problems lies in the scandalous gap between the rich and the poor. We won political liberation nearly 30 years ago but we have not achieved economic liberation. However, we cannot do that without doing a reboot of our politics and our instruments of governance.

So my message is this: to save South Africa we need to embark on a New Struggle to replace the old struggle against apartheid, a New Struggle for a new generation, a struggle to regain our moral compass, a struggle to end economic inequity, a struggle to bring about equality of opportunity and realise the promises of our Constitution. 

Only by adopting this New Struggle can we inspire the multitudes of disillusioned young people who despise politicians, who spurn politics and who won't even register to vote, but instead pursue a rampant consumerism because we have failed to give them a vision which would attract them to public service. 

And at the heart of the New Struggle must of course be the fight against corruption to which you have devoted today's proceedings. I won't try to cover the ground you've already discussed today, but allow me to make three points:

Firstly, make no mistake, the fight against corruption will not necessarily be easier than the fight against apartheid. As we have so movingly heard today, and read about in recent weeks, it takes tremendous courage to stand up against a prevailing miasma of self-serving wheeler-dealing in an institution. The criminals who have engaged in and benefitted from corruption will fight to stay out of prison, deploying death squads just as the criminals who enforced apartheid did. 

But human progress is never guaranteed without struggle. Progess requires sacrifice, it often involves suffering, and most of all it requires struggle. And part of that struggle must be securing much better protection for whistle-blowers, whether from loss of income or from killers who attack in the night. That needs to happen almost immediately, and President Ramaphosa should spell out practical action to achieve it in his State of the Nation address. 

Secondly, I want to endorse the call to protect law enforcement from political interference. People of all faiths share the belief that our Creator calls us to treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves, and that our priority in society should be to pursue the common good so that everyone can flourish. To pursue the common good, we need to hold one another accountable for our actions. In our national life, Chapter Nine of our Constitution gives us instruments which help us to do this. And so I believe it is actually our sacred duty to ensure that we take the steps necessary to insulate the investigators and prosecutors of crime from being undermined and subverted by those in power who want to cover up corruption.

Thirdly, we need to create a multi-stakeholder forum to pursue the  New Struggle. As I have said previously, an uncoordinated constellation of independent movements is not enough. We need a coalition that embraces all voices, from the poor to the spiritual leaders of our country, to the leaders of business, labour and legal services. We need an alliance of leaders and forces to say: “Enough is enough!”

That alliance must include the youth and one of its primary objectives in securing the future should be registering young people to register to vote, then to vote and help to change the government's policies. The young can also use their energy for advocacy, lobbying banks and international organisations in the campaign mentioned by Lord Hain to expose kleptocracy and highlight corruption in South Africa.

It is time to heal our political polarisations and to recognise that the chasms between rich and poor cannot be tolerated any longer. The New Struggle cannot be for a new, multiracial middle class to live as the white elite lived under apartheid. No, our struggle now must be for a new society, a more equal society, a society of equality of opportunity in which the wealth that comes from new economic growth is shared equitably among all. Our country's future, the futures of our children, our grandchildren and the generations to come, depend on it.

*  *  *  *  *