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.

Sermon preached at the 80th birthday celebrations of the Revd Canon Barney Pityana

 The Most Revd Thabo Makgoba

Metropolitan of ACSA

Thanksgiving Service for Revd Canon Prof N. Barney Pityana, GCOB

on his 80th Birthday

St Alban’s Cathedral - Pretoria

9^th August 2025 

Readings: Deuteronomy 6: 4 - 13; Psalm 18: 1-2, 50 -52; Matthew 17: 14-20

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

It is heart-warming to be with you again at St Alban's. I am always delighted to be here, but no more so than at a celebration such as this, a celebration of the extraordinary life of one of the great clerics, scholars and South Africans of our generations, Prof Nyameko Barney Pityana, GCOB. 

Barney, on behalf of the whole Province and on my own and Lungi's behalf, our heartiest congratulations on this significant milestone in your life. I am honoured simply to be in your presence at this service today, and especially privileged to have been asked to preach. Thank you to the Vicar-General, Dean Moses Thabethe and your team, together with the Church Wardens of this Cathedral, for inviting me to be part of this service. Thank you to our fellow bishops present here for your part in the service. Let me also welcome Mrs Dimza Pityana, their family and friends, as well as Dr Brigalia Hlophe Bam, and of course everyone in the congregation. Thank you all for being here.

As we acknowledge the roles of both Mama Dimza and Mama Hlophe in Barney's life, in our lives and in that of our country, let us all on this Women's Day recognise and pay tribute to the lives and the struggle of women for the society we aspire to: truly non-sexist as well as reflecting all the other values of our Constitution.

The reading from Matthew's Gospel (17:14 ff) which we have just heard reflects one element of Jesus's pattern of ministry, a pattern of continual withdrawal, followed by involvement, followed again by withdrawal, then involvement. From being alone with Jesus, the disciples return to the crowd. From the glory of the mountain, Jesus returns to the suffering of the plain, to be confronted not only by a faithless and perverse generation, but by lack of faith on the part of the disciples.

The words of Jesus to the father in this reading, summoning him to bring his son, ring through that tableaux of despair, a tableaux of dreams deferred, and of unmet expectations. I could not think of words more appropriate for celebrating Professor Barney's life, ministry and witness in the public domain than these: simply because he has lived his whole life responding precisely and particularly to the challenge issued by Jesus: to bring to him everything that the boy in the story represents – we know the list well – brokenness, stigmatisation, labelling, prejudice, fear, the stunting of potential, marginalisation, mental health and the othering of people not like us.

Against all the odds, obstacles and objections, the father brings the boy because the father’s heart and hopes are anchored in a belief that transformation is possible even in the midst of adversity. The father, even in his disappointment with others – and the disciples in particular – remains the holder of the dream, the custodian of the real possibility of transformation and the activist pushing the boundaries. The disciples could not work the miracle of transformation, so he was the one who pushed the boundaries further.

Barney, we see so much of the father in you; the courageous activist who is not prepared to step back when disappointment in others afflicts you, when others let you down, and let down the causes you represent. In the public space, you have built a legacy of pushing on, of continuing to hold onto the possibility of change as your lode star and thus of speaking hope into dark situations. The father would absolutely not let the boys many ‘chains’ become normative, he pushed on, broke boundaries, called out from the margins, persistently. Evil and corruption in whatever sphere can never be normalised.

Let me also draw a third comparison. The father stands with the boy, he doesn’t leave his side or let his cause disappear from public gaze and scrutiny. There is an unbreakable bond with the marginalised, stigmatised son who lives at least existentially on the margins. The father is thus a sign of abiding solidarity. Again there is a part of you Barney-indeed a very large part of you, that is a pledge to be in solidarity with the poor, the stigmatised and the oppressed, especially in the height of your activism, a time of racial stigmatisation, of silenced voices. You stood in a solidarity that inspired many others. Note that, in our Gospel reading, solidarity wasn’t easy for the father, it was demanding, it cost him his time, his energy, his vigilance: his son was prone to do harsh things and to strike out defiantly. His behaviour was unpredictable. What it must have cost the father is beyond the ordinary. That is the point of solidarity. Solidarity is hard work and it’s costly. I often quote those words of Pope Francis, written especially to priests who push back on the summons to solidarity. 

“Openness to God, makes us open towards the marginalised of the world, and gives us the courage to leave the confines of our own security and comfort to become bruised, hurting and dirty as we joyfully approach the suffering of others in a spirit of solidarity.”

Prof Barney, in all of your multiple quests, as a dream holder, as an activist, as an architect of solidarity and the articulator of the pathologies that have blocked the flowering of our humanity, you have brought the son to Jesus. You have let nothing stand in your way. Beyond being a father to your family, beyond being a father in God to your flock, you have been a father to many groups in our wider community. In all of this you have been a witness to your name, Nyameko, which can be translated as ‘filled with endurance’. Your birthday is a wonderful time to remember and celebrate this. We are so grateful to you and for you.

Allow me to draw one or two other points from the Gospel reading. Despite the fact that Jesus (in Mt 10:1ff) had anointed the disciples with the power to act with authority and to cast out demons, they failed to do so and were clearly embarrassed by it. And that too. Jesus had indeed anointed them with the power to cast out demons, to act with authority - and yet they had failed- and they failed in front of the Scribes and those whose negativity was just waiting to undermine them. Why? Why did that happen? It was because they had forgotten God's promise.

I believe there is a lesson for us there. We need in our lives and especially in those moments when life throws us curved balls, to hold onto God’s promises, to remember God’s faithfulness in times past and the promise of God to ‘have our backs’. Otherwise rather like the disciples in testing moments, we will lose our grip and doom ourselves to lead lives in which our potential is wasted.

God has so much more in store for us than mediocrity, and Prof Barney is a stellar example of this. There is a thread in this story that calls us to rise above the temptations of mediocrity and allow ourselves to be moulded into the best versions of ourselves. It is easy to forget that what threw the disciples—besides not remembering God’s promises—was their failure to see the challenge they faced in all its enormity, in its complexity. And when we make the same mistake, we are so overwhelmed by what we face that we lose sight of that basic spiritual principle, that the problem in front of us is not as big as the God inside us. 

In our time of growing hostility in the world, in a time of warfare and megalomania;

• when politics is stripped of integrity;

• when leadership is subverted by greed and corruption;

• when the powerful exploit the marginalised;

• when undisguised racism, genocide, ethnic cleansing and collective punishment distort our sense of our own worth, undermine our dignity and rob us of our potential;

then we need to regain our confidence that nothing can separate us from the love of God, if we lean into the basic principles that anchor us and prepare us for all that lies ahead.

Barney, you are now a decade beyond your three-score-years-and-ten, at an age when the psalmist (Ps 90:10) reminds us that reaching 80 reflects that you are strong. We admire your strength, and you are a beloved witness to what that strength means in the public domain, what it means in the academy, and what it means in the hours of prayer, worship and witness you exemplify in the church.

Friends, it was Dr Martin Luther King Junior who warned us of the consequences of becoming silent about the things that matter. To quote his words the day after many people were beaten on a protest march in Alabama (adapted slightly to be gender-inclusive), “A person dies when they refuse to stand up for that which is right. A person dies when they refuse to stand up for justice. A person dies when they refuse to take a stand for that which is true.” Thirty years after we won our political freedom, the time has come in South Africa for us to emulate Barney Pityana—whether it is in his stand with Steve Biko, Malusi Mpumlwana, Mamphela Ramphele and others in the 1960s, whether it is during his banning the the 1970s, or whether it is in his stand against corruption and misrule in the Zuma era and in our lottery—the time has come for us to stand up for that which is right, for justice and for that which is true.

I return again to the appeal I have been making since the days of the Zuma administration, an appeal that we embark on a New Struggle, a struggle which replaces the old struggle against apartheid with a new 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.

As we look to the forthcoming municipal elections, I want to address the young people of our country. You are quite correct when you tell us that the promises of democracy are not being realised. We can understand your disillusionment, we understand why you are opting out of politics and public life. But that is not the answer to our crisis. That will not secure you and your children's future. No, the answer to our crisis is for you to roll up your sleeves and make the New Struggle a new struggle for a new generation. Please, young people, for the sake of our country's and your futures, dig deep into the radical roots of the old struggle against apartheid, and dare to dream and work for a country in which there is justice, equity and equality of opportunity.

Organise amongst yourselves, and those of you who are old enough, register with the Independent Electoral Commission, then campaign and vote in the early next year's elections. We need a peaceful revolution in which young people stand up, reject corruption and self-dealing, and help us to realise the promises of our Constitution.

We can no longer sit back and allow the elites of our society simply to reproduce themselves. I have said repeatedly what we all know to be true, which is that the daughters and the sons of the well-off tend to get the best opportunities in life, and become well-off themselves, while the daughters and sons of the poor struggle to escape the vicious cycle of deprivation that keeps them poor. Our President has asked me to serve as a member of the Eminent Persons Group advising the National Dialogue that is about to begin, and although I know many are sceptical, even cynical about what it can and will achieve, the single most important reason I accepted his invitation is my belief that if we don’t fundamentally reform our economy to give better opportunities to the poor, we may as well pack up and stay at home. I am not an economist, but I cannot in good conscience sit on my hands in Bishopscourt, sniping at the process from the outside, without arguing my case as strongly as I can.

The announcement yesterday that foundations pursuing the legacies of the leaders of our liberation struggle are among those pulling out of preparations for next week's National Convention, and the Convention itself, should not be seen as a setback, but as a genuine effort to wrestle with – and find agreement on – issues upon which the success of the whole initiative will depend. I am already on record as having said in my Easter sermon, before I was asked to serve, that a successful outcome to the dialogue depends on the process becoming everyone’s business, not just the government’s, and that it is critical for the credibility of the dialogue for it to be free from manipulation by political and economic elites. As one of those now tasked with being a bridge-builder in the process, calling on all to serve the common good in the interests of the whole nation, I appeal to everyone on all sides to take a step back, to reconsider their positions, and hold urgent consultations to ensure we can move forward together on the basis of the principles outlined. Our country, and especially the poor and the marginalised, desperately need an initiative such as this, and we cannot afford to let it fail. To adapt the words of Desmond Tutu, the consequences could be too ghastly to contemplate.

Sisters and brothers, as we give thanks to God for the witness of Prof Barney to our Province and the world, let us all say together with the psalmist “For this will I give you thanks among nations O Lord and sing praises to your name. To him that gives great triumphs to his king; that deals so faithfully with his anointed with David and his seed for ever” (18:51-52). As the Psalmist calls us to praise, an anthem of praise becomes a prayer of faith, a faith which empowers us to draw on our worship to lead us into an inward experience of trust and hope. And as we journey through this time, may the finished work of Jesus on the Cross provide for us a constant spring of intense joy as we reconcile one with another.

As God so loves Nyameko Barney Pityana, Mama Dimza Pityana and all their family, so he loves each and every one of you here today, and so do I. Amen.

* * * * *

Sermon for a Confirmation Service for Anglican Schools in Cape Town

 Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

Combined Confirmation Service for Anglican Schools in Cape Town

St Cyprian’s School Chapel, Cape Town

3^rd August 2025

Readings: Hosea 11: 1-11; Psalm 107:1-9, 43; Colossians 3: 1-11; Luke 12: 13-21

May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sisters and brothers in Christ, dear people of God, heads of participating schools – our host today, Mrs Shirley Frayne of St Cyprian’s School, Mrs Heather Goedeke of Herschel Girls, Mr Antony Reeler of Diocesan College, Mr Julian Cameron of St George’s Grammar School – also friends and families, educators here present, I am pleased to join you once again this year as we share in this important day in the lives of the confirmation candidates who will be presented during this service.

Let me warmly welcome you all and thank you for the invitation. Most importantly, thanks to the school chaplains – the Revd Andrew Weiss of St Cyprian’s, the Revd Monwabisi Peter of Bishops, and the Revd Lorna Lavello-Smith of Herschel. I also thank you all for the hard work you do in preparing candidates for confirmation. A very warm and special welcome to the parents and godparents of the confirmation candidates, together with those attending this service for the first time.

A big thank you, Revd Andrew, for hosting us in this beautiful chapel which I appreciate so much. Thanks also to you and your team for preparing the service and a brilliant service booklet. It is always a joyous occasion when the schools in our diocese meet and worship together as a family.

As we gather in the presence of God today, we also attest to the special gift with which God, out of His goodness, will bestow you, the confirmation candidates: the outpouring anew of the Holy Spirit into your lives. This is the rite of passage that will help you to practise your faith more effectively and efficiently in every aspect of your existence, deepening your relationship with God and strengthening your spiritual lives.

Our Catechism teaches that the Holy Spirit empowers us for worship, witness, and service. In worship we praise and give reverence to God. In the traditional formulation, we say in the church that this begins with fear of the Lord. We shouldn’t misunderstand what the word “fear” means in this context – it doesn't mean we should shiver in terror before the Lord, rather that we should stand in awe of the Lord. Fearing, or standing in awe of God, is one of the gifts of the Spirit. So, through worship we show respect for and love of God, admiring God with those who have faith and believe in him.

In our first reading today, from the book of the prophet Hosea (11:1-11), we read of God’s response to his people when they turned away from him. In passing judgement on them, God was not punishing a sinful nation but was agonising over a people on whom he had settled his inheritance, meaning that God poured out special blessings on Israel – Israel in this context meaning the people of God as described in the Old Testament, not the modern secular state. It was tragic if you think of it; when they were a young people, God heard their cries of suffering, and delivered them from the bondage of the Pharoah in Egypt. The Lord led them with love and understanding rather than driving them with whips. Hosea says that ‘they shall not return’ signifying that in spite of their sins, God would not give them the punishment they deserved; he would not reverse His great redemptive act. We see a glimpse of the heart of God in verses 8 and 9, when we see God’s emotions in turmoil, his compassion for his people driving him to cry in anguish, ‘How can I give you up...’

Because, sisters and brothers, just as God met the needs of the people of Israel in bringing them out of harsh bondage, in our own day God knows our condition and cares for us by responding to our cries and our needs. God does not give up on us. God’s unchanging and unchangeable character means God will devise a way of dealing with God’s people. Jesus, the Holy One, came in our midst to seek out the lost sheep of the house of Israel and to give His life as a ransom for many. ‘I will return them to their homes, says the Lord’ (v.11b).

In the Parable of the Rich Fool, the Gospel account we heard today (Luke 12:13ff), Jesus refused to respond to a request from a man in a crowd to decide on a legal issue, which was how someone’s estate should be divided. Instead He went to the root of the matter, giving a stern warning against covetousness, which is the desire to have something belonging to someone else. Jesus’s warning may well have been motivated by personal knowledge of the man in question. Covetousness not only leads to strife but also expresses a fundamentally wrong philosophy of life, one which says possessions are all that really matters.

It’s not news to any of us that money cannot buy everything. It only takes the death of someone on the verge of retirement, with plans to live in comfort and ease for another 10 or 20 years, to make us realise how how useless possessions can be. The rich man in our parable today failed to seek the true riches of a right relationship with God, and so he was a fool, a senseless person.

Thirty years after South Africa’s political liberation, many of us still need to learn that striving merely for material possessions, and especially for material possessions only for ourselves and our families, will not bring stability and peace for our families, our communities and our nation. We can no longer sit back and allow the elites of our society, whether old elites or new elites, simply to reproduce themselves. I have said repeatedly what I think we all know to be true, which is that the daughters and the sons of the well-off tend to get the best opportunities in life, and become well-off themselves, while the daughters and sons of the poor struggle to escape the vicious cycle of deprivation that keeps them poor. Our President has asked me to serve on the group advising the National Dialogue that is about to begin, and although I know many are sceptical, even cynical about what it can and will achieve, the single most important reason I accepted his invitation is my belief that if we don’t fundamentally reform our economy to give better opportunities to the poor, we may as well pack up and stay at home. I am not an economist, but I cannot in good conscience sit on my hands in Bishopscourt, sniping at the process from the outside, without arguing my case as strongly as I can.

And while I am on the subject of public advocacy, please allow me to refer to a matter which, as Jeremiah once said, is like a fire burning in my breast, one which compels me to speak out, even if I struggle to find the words to speak as eloquently as God would want me to. The subject is Gaza, Palestine and Israel, which along with the brutal civil war in Sudan, constitutes, I believe, one of the great moral issues of our time. In a city which includes Christians, Muslims and Jews, it is our responsibility to preach sanity to all whose hearts and passions are consumed by the crisis in the land all three faiths call holy. Please, form prayer cells, fast and pray, and advocate wherever you can for an end to starvation as a weapon of war, for an end to hostage taking and the deliberate killing of civilians, for an end to ethnic cleansing and genocide, and for a just peace which guarantees stability and respect for the rights of all.

Now each of you here today might be hesitant to think of yourselves as being up to the challenges I have posed. But our faith tells us that God remains the same, always, and Paul reminds us to set our minds on ‘things that are above and not things that are on earth’ (Colossians 3:2). This does not mean we should ignore the suffering around us; no, it means that we should look to the values which derive from focussing on the higher purposes of our lives and seek to embody them in the practice of our everyday lives. God conceives that Christian life is a constant quest with Christ as a goal, the Christ who died for us and our salvation; the salvation which is represented by the true peace and reconciliation which is achieved through the attainment of justice; and the salvation which will be ours when the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. (Rev. 11:15)

So today, as each of you receives the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, I challenge you, and I challenge all learners and parents at our Anglican schools, to open your minds and your hearts to the invitation extended by God. To those of you who will be confirmed today, and to all learners at St Cyprian's, Bishops, Herschel and St George's: it is in times like these in your lives and in the lives of our communities and our country that our destiny is shaped. Destiny is a matter of choice, not of chance, and so I appeal to you, as you embrace Jesus's call to be his disciples, to allow him to shape you and form you in accordance with His will for your lives.

As I conclude, I want to thank all the educators, learners and families who continue to ensure that learning and teaching take place in all our schools. To those who teach, thank you for your dedicated work, you are among the most under-appreciated professionals in our society. Thank you for what you do to help our young people live in harmony with one another, to guide them away from simply fulfilling selfish earthly ambitions.

May you all, learners and educators, be open to the moulding of God who calls you and holds you in his palms like clay, working to perfect you as you seek to follow Christ's example of worship, service, and sacrifice.

Congratulations class of 2025 on your confirmation, and may God bless you, your families, South Africa and the world.

God loves you and so do I. Amen

Reflections on Gaza: A Personal Perspective - by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

 Reflections on Gaza: A Personal Perspective

Remarks given at the invitation of Churches for Middle East Peace 

Carter Center, Atlanta, USA

30th July 2025

Grace and peace to you, dear friends in Christ, beloved brothers and sisters journeying together in the pursuit of justice and faith. I extend heartfelt greetings from South Africa—a nation marked by profound wounds but also imbued with the grace of resilience and hope. 

Let me acknowledge my four colleagues from South Africa, especially, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana: Molweni!

I speak not merely as a citizen, but as one who has grown up navigating life in the harsh shadows cast by apartheid. I hail from a township in Johannesburg, where the concept of freedom was far from a universal right. Instead, it was an elusive dream shrouded by the presence of military patrols, the separation of families, and a daily struggle to uphold human dignity against overwhelming odds. 

Like Naomi Tutu who spoke powerfully last night, I have however also witnessed walls, both physical and metaphorical, tumbling down, and I have seen hearts begin to heal in places where suffering has left deep scars. In the dark era of apartheid South Africa, we were conditioned to believe that our place of birth dictated the trajectory of our lives. It determined not only where we could reside but also whom we could choose to love, and ultimately, whether our existence held any significance at all. Black South Africans faced the grim realities of forced removals from our ancestral lands, being stripped of access to quality education, healthcare, and employment opportunities, all of which should be basic human rights. We were subjected to a substandard education system, policed by unfair laws designed to perpetuate our subjugation, making us feel like outsiders in the land of our forebears. 

I recall vividly the oppressive Group Areas Act that dictated our living spaces, the stringent pass laws that controlled our movement, and the Bantu education system that sought to limit our aspirations. I can still hear the soft echoes of protest songs murmured furtively among us, whispering hope in a world drenched in despair. I remember feeling a constant undercurrent of fear alongside a powerful, unwavering faith that sustained us through the darkest times. Our survival was not purely a testament to our strength; it was a collective endeavour, an endeavour bolstered by one another and guided by our unshakable belief in God. 

In the bleakest moments of apartheid, the church—though it was not always of one mind—emerged as a haven for the downtrodden. It became a resolute voice against injustice. We found ourselves drawing strength and hope from sacred texts, finding parallels in the stories of old. We saw ourselves in Moses confronting Pharaoh, in the prophets decrying Injustice, in Christ who overturned the tables in the temple of greed, and in Paul’s inclusion of all peoples, transcending divisions as he envisioned a church without barriers of ethnicity or status.

As I reflect upon Palestine today, I perceive it not as a distant or foreign site of settler colonial genocide and ethnic cleansing; rather, I see mirrored reflections of familiar pain and suffering. I witness checkpoints that resemble the oppressive pass laws we endured. The home demolitions echo the traumatic forced removals we experienced in Sophiatown in Johannesburg and District Six in Cape Town. The systemic categorisation, pervasive surveillance, and the stripping away of rights based on identity remind me all too vividly of our own history. I see a landscape marred by mass incarceration, the weight of military rule, and the damaging narrative of “security” used as a pretext for ongoing tyranny. I see much more, and worse. 

What can we learn from SA ? 

In almost every way what is happening in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and particularly in Gaza, is incomparable with what happened under apartheid in South Africa. I don't assume to know what Palestinians want. Hence I take every opportunity to listen to Palestinians. I was changed by a sermon I preached at a Sabeel conference in 2011, to which I was invited by Naim Ateek, under the theme “Challenging Empire”. Many who came to South Africa in the time of apartheid were affected by what they saw and became international champions. Within South Africa, some of the least helpful white people were those who assumed they knew what black South Africans needed/ wanted.

Our peaceful struggle against apartheid benefitted greatly from international advocacy, which has been described as the most successful campaign for justice since that against slavery in the British empire two centuries ago. Internally, we were at our most successful when we united civil society, including NGOS, the religious community and the universities, in broad-based coalitions around mutually agreed objectives which were realistically achievable. 

We needed to learn to compromise, and not splinter into small, ideologically pure groupings. For example, within my church in the 1980s, there was division over endorsing Archbishop Desmond Tutu's call for comprehensive international sanctions against apartheid. Some of our leaders were sensitive to the accusation that comfortable middle-class leaders were advocating job losses for black South Africans. Our bishops compromised by proposing targeted sanctions such as stopping international airlines from flying to South Africa, which didn’t affect poor people but which was of symbolic importance in isolating the apartheid government internationally and boosting the morale of black South Africans. Similarly, sports boycotts and expulsion from the Olympics reinforced the image of South Africa abroad as a country beyond the pale, not to be dealt with by civilised nations.

Internationally, much of the impetus for advocacy against apartheid also came from peaceful protests from civil society, especially from us as university students. Although the ANC was lobbying strongly for sanctions, its adoption of an armed struggle and its support from the Soviet Union gave it little traction in many Western societies. Both Democratic and Republican Senate staff told a Tutu biographer that the Archbishop's stature as a man of peace was an important ingredient in Congress's adoption of sanctions against apartheid in 1986. The sanctions followed an extensive grassroots campaign on campuses and demonstrations of prominent Americans in Washington DC, including sanctions at state level. President Reagan first vetoed the sanctions, but Congress over-rode his veto in the only foreign policy defeat of its kind during his presidency. He pleaded with senators to back him on the grounds that a defeat would weaken his hand ahead of a summit with Mikhail Gorbachev in Iceland, but his plea was to no avail.

Again, the capacity to compromise was important. For many in lobbies such as the Congressional Black Caucus, the sanctions adopted had been watered down too much from those originally proposed, but an important signal was sent when bipartisan action was achieved. The administration of George HW Bush subsequently strengthened Republican opposition to apartheid. In another example of how compromise got results, on a 1989 visit to Washington, local activists were upset when the White House offered a South African church delegation including Desmond Tutu a meeting of only 15 minutes with President Bush at the beginning of his term of office. On the basis that it was an important signal that they were the first South Africans to meet Bush, the delegation refused to treat the offer as a snub and accepted the invitation. They were able to spend the best part of an hour putting their case.

Another lesson from the anti-apartheid experience is to look for allies among other governments who can put pressure on reluctant leaders to take multilateral action. Margaret Thatcher was a vigorous opponent of sanctions, but in the end she isolated herself in the British Commonwealth. Similarly, she and Helmut Kohl of Germany were the last hold-outs in Europe against sanctions.

In retrospect, it is important to recognise that to achieve peaceful change, you need to be in the struggle for the long haul. I know we face a particular crisis in Gaza now, and it needs urgent action, but ultimately a solution for Palestine is going to take time, and will involve constant, sustained effort over many years. The system is not unconquerable. In South Africa when we realised this, and we ultimately overwhelmed the kind of settler colonial system that ends up creating insecurity for all, starving, ethnically cleansing and committing genocide against its victims.

We must now overwhelm the system that upholds Israel with praxis rooted in scripture and prayer, from email/telephone campaigns, to online activism, to massive flotillas, to legal action, to embarrassing Arab regimes, and to tracking down the companies named in the report by Francesca Albanese and exposing them and their board members. I also call on nations to stop the sales of arms to governments and systems that cleanse humans and commit genocide.

Also, dialogue is key: refuse to be intimidated from talking, even with your enemies. Our principal liberation movement spoke to our enemies. 

Reflecting on more recent experiences, one of the advantages we had in South Africa was broad international acceptance that apartheid was simply wrong. Some of you here today at the Carter Center will no doubt have your own experience of the rejection of President Carter's description of certain Israeli policies as being like apartheid. Unless you have experts on South African and Israeli law and practice explain exactly where the systems are similar and dissimilar, it's very difficult to get many in the West to buy into the notion that a form of apartheid is experienced in Israel. It is probably a little easier to convince people when it comes to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The use of the word genocide is a similar challenge. For many in the West, the term genocide is automatically associated with the Holocaust, with death camps and the organised murder of six million people. Again addressing this challenge depends on explaining the contents and definitions contained in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted by the UN in 1948. 

To conclude I hesitantly offer a few further suggestions:

In Cape Town, we are experiencing tension between Jewish and Muslim communities. This is in spite of the fact that there is general acceptance that there is a distinction between being a Zionist and being Jewish. My suggestion is that we abolish the use of the adjective “Jewish” in debating and considering how to achieve justice and peace in the land three faiths call holy. To conflate being Jewish with support of the policies of any particular Israeli administration is not only inaccurate, but wrong.

Secondly, we in South Africa are very sensitive to the use of the term “terrorist”. White South Africans and Margaret Thatcher used the phrase indiscriminately during the struggle against apartheid. While there are justifications for its use in particular circumstances, it loses its currency when it is used to describe anyone who wants to achieve self-determination in a democratic dispensation.

Perhaps instead of debating labels, we should focus on the details of how individuals, families and communities are treated. In democracies, there is nothing more powerful in addressing injustice and oppression than in demonstrating to citizens how people in other parts of the world who share their humanity are suffering at the hands of the powerful. 

Thank you for giving this opportunity to a pastor from a land distant both from the United States and the Middle East to voice deep distress at the suffering of the people. 

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