tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36887468755089019352024-03-17T17:05:36.999+02:00Archbishop Thabo MakgobaThabo Makgobahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00015823513911799706noreply@blogger.comBlogger989125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-37138710617459952592024-03-15T17:07:00.010+02:002024-03-17T17:04:49.050+02:00 The role of NGOs in the public discourse and in shaping South Africa’s future state<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><i>The fifth in Archbishop Makgoba's
Lenten reflections on the roles of different sectors of South African
society. Previous reflections have covered the areas of <a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2024/02/what-is-businesss-role-in-public.html" target="_blank">business</a>, </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><i>
</i></span><span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2024/02/what-role-does-education-play-in-public.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><i>education</i></span></a></u></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><i>,
</i></span><span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2024/03/is-media-fulfilling-its-role-in.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><i>media</i></span></a></u></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><i>
and </i></span><span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2024/03/athletes-and-artists-role-in-shaping.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><i>sport</i></span></a></u></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><i>.
</i></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">At the
heart of our lessons this week is the message that when we identify
and work with those on the margins and periphery of society, we share
God’s steadfast love with them. We participate in their
vindication; we show God’s mercy and compassion; and we stand in
the gap as salt and light to alleviate their pain and suffering.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">The non-governmental organisations of
which I have been a part have all played such a role. In Johannesburg
in the 1990s there was the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre to End
Violence Against Women and the Women Against Woman Abuse Project.
More recently, my family has sought to promote security, education
and social justice through the Archbishop Makgoba Development Trust.
Church-based NGOs operate health, environmental, social justice,
educational and feeding programmes, while other NGOs which I have
supported in one way or another have served a wide variety of
citizens' interests, including issues of land restitution, elections
and the enhancement of democracy. As South Africa's National
Development Plan states, all those bodies have sought to procure
social cohesion through active citizenship.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">Civil society in South Africa is
characterised by an important and powerful NGO sector, one which has
demonstrated that with systematic funding and support it can over
time drive long-term, sustainable change. </span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">As we consider our choices at the ballot
box on May 29, one of the key questions I have is how the different
political parties view the sector and how they propose to facilitate
its contribution to improving the lives of our people. In order to
assess the issues NGOs face, I have interviewed a number of leaders
in their fields: a prominent head of a health NGO, a leading
development expert, one who runs a funding NGO which facilitates the
participation of others in society, the leader of a faith-based NGO
working to advance Early Childhood Development and a person who
operates another church-based group working in education.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">Viewing the sector broadly, our NGOs act
as social service providers, as advocates for the environment or for
living or work standards, and as catalysts for democratic change.
They often represent the interests of citizens who might otherwise be
left out of national policy debates, opening the public discourse to
people of all economic and social classes and to women and
minorities. They allow citizens to improve society by advocating,
educating and mobilising attention around major public issues and by
monitoring the conduct of government and private enterprise.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">But they are hindered by being
under-represented in critical spaces of national dialogue. For
example at Nedlac, the grouping which is meant to promote interaction
between government and other constituencies in society, business and
labour is well represented, but community organisations are
represented by a narrow set of ANC-aligned quasi-NGOs, such as the
South African Youth Council. So the place where a comprehensive
national debate and dialogue should be taking pace excludes a key
pillar of our society. </span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">This bias was seen during the height of
the coronavirus pandemic, for example, when the government turned to
business in establishing the Solidarity Fund. This was despite the
private sector having little experience in responding to health
crises, and our country having a civil society health sector that is
world class. </span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">One of the challenges in the relationship
between NGOs and government is that they are viewed either as voices
opposed to the State, or as agents of service delivery on behalf of
the State. This undermines the vibrant contribution that they can
make—innovating at the margins of society in ways that can show us
where opportunity lies for deep change.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">One of the most impressive instances in
which different sectors have come together to change behaviour at
significant scale has been through loveLife, the youth non-profit set
up to combat the spread of HIV which also seeks to advance the total
physical, mental and social well-being of young people. Combined with
the movement for access to treatment for HIV, it has had a profound
impact on the epidemic in South Africa. </span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">Apart from the practical change NGOs can
bring about at grassroots level, they have a rich history in South
Africa of being the voice of transparency, often revealing publicly
what many know but are too afraid to say. Their independence from
government and corporate interests give them a real capacity to
effectively expand the public narrative, raising critical issues
which, even if government and business recognise their importance,
they are constrained from initiating debate on themselves. In this
way, NGOs often play a mission-critical role of shedding light on
obvious socio-political blind spots. This might make being the voice
of an NGO risky, but the worse the problem, the more we need our
NGOs.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">While NGOs are often under-equipped to
bring about the kind of long-term change in social norms, attitudes
and beliefs that their missions and their standard rhetoric demand,
they are well-equipped to play the role of courageous champions of
ideas, ideally placed to publicly ask tough questions.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">In the democratic era, the investigative
journalists of amaBhungane empowered faith leaders to call for an end
to corruption in President Zuma’s administration, and later to call
for him to resign and for the corrupt to be prosecuted and forced to
wear those “orange overalls”. The media and civil society,
including faith-based groups, can claim to have played an important
role in the establishment of the Zondo Commission.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">In an election season, the role of civil
society becomes complicated because reason and balanced discourse is
often set aside, replaced by polarising political rhetoric.
Nevertheless, NGOs need to take the opportunity to ask the parties
the tough questions: </span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<ul><li><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">What lessons have you drawn from the
extensive work of communities and NGOs to create policies that
really model equality of opportunity? (There is a very good example
of the Social Employment Fund, which is modelling a very powerful
public-NGO set of partnerships.) </span>
</p>
</li><li><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">What do you as parties see as the
specific challenges facing education today and what are you going to
do to remedy them?</span></p>
</li><li><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">How do you understand and relate to the
deep, lived experience of children falling out of the education
system, and in the context of this deeper understanding what plans
do you have for change over time? </span>
</p>
</li><li><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">How do the parties understand the lived
experience of people on the margins of our society, and what plans
does each party have for addressing their exclusion and lack of
access to opportunity?</span></p>
</li><li><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">How can the pursuit of universal
healthcare put the experience of patients at the centre of its
design, and how are you going to overcome the challenges to its
delivery?</span></p>
</li><li><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">What do you see as the challenges facing
service delivery more broadly, and again, what exactly are you going
to do about them?</span></p>
</li></ul>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">The objectives of NGOs are to pursue
social justice, to be courageous and to challenge especially the
powerful, the moneyed, the multinationals, and to hold them to
account, to appeal to their consciences, their ethics and their
morality in the interests of the poor and excluded. </span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">The world of public discourse—political,
social, diplomatic and commercial—has so corrupted language that
we are rightly more suspicious of the meaning of the words uttered by
protagonists in society than we are convinced of their veracity. So
often, language is turned on its head. But NGOs can help each of us
begin to think seriously about what action we and our country are
called to, and therein lies my hope for the role they can play. </span>
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { color: #000000; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-ZA }p.cjk { font-family: "Noto Serif CJK SC"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: zh-CN }p.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: hi-IN }a:link { color: #000080; text-decoration: underline }</style></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-33683772979734071392024-03-07T15:40:00.003+02:002024-03-07T15:40:58.799+02:00Athletes’ and artists’ role in shaping the public discourse and South Africa’s future<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>In his fourth Lenten reflection, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba writes on the role athletes and artists can play in society. </i> <br /></p><p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">At
the heart of a number of our lessons this week are themes of
sacrifice, suffering, endurance and achieving the ultimate biblical
goal, being made right by God, freely. Among those in society today
who often have to be willing to make sacrifices, to suffer and to
show endurance—albeit at different levels—are the athletes and
artists who distinguish themselves by their achievements.</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">While
not in this week’s readings, of course the popular Pauline line is
“I have run the race and I have kept the faith...” (2 Timothy
4:7) With that phrase in mind, ahead of this weekend’s big Cape
Town Cycle Tour and as elections approach, in this reflection I want
to ask: What role should sportswomen and sportsmen play in our
national conversations on politics, race and gender in society,
and for the sake of the future of South Africa?</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">While
my parents were physically strong and walked long distances to bus
terminals and train stations every day, neither of them were ever
sports people. My petite mom loved watching wrestling, boxing and car
racing when we finally bought her a TV, but she didn’t take part in
sport. However, both she and my dad used to say to us as kids, “Sport
builds character and gives courage.” So my elder sister became a
great 800m runner and amongst us siblings and our kids, we became
athletes in rowing (our son captained his crew), tennis, swimming,
hockey, netball, rugby and soccer.
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Yes,
mom and dad were correct—each one of us has our different qualities
of character and varied levels of courage. Preparing this article, I
spoke to a rugby player, a woman golfer, a lawyer who works in the
music industry and a politician who used to lead sports boycotts in
apartheid times and also led the South African Music Association. I
also drew on desktop research to develop a deeper understanding of
the painful experiences suffered by those in segregated sports.
Sadly, in my view our Department of Sports, Arts and Culture is
wanting in the task of filling the gap of addressing past
inequalities; instead it focuses mainly on photo opportunities when
athletes have won trophies.
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">When
individuals whose voices are marginalised—such as people living in
poverty, those suffering from inadequate service delivery and
inferior education, as well as those who experience discrimination
for their race, gender or sexuality—see their issues and concerns
reflected in the national discourse, they can be empowered to take
action to change the status quo. Public figures can play a key role
in directing this discourse, and athletes, with their fame and the
adoration they attract, clearly possess the influence to advocate for
the voiceless. </p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">One
who writes on his quest for equity in sport, Andrew MacMaster, says
that “the personal vulnerability and public voice of athletes make
them perfect crusaders for justice” and continues: “Athletes
possess one of our country’s most visible platforms and as a result
can play a key role in directing public discourse by using their
platforms to bring attention to issues facing our under-served
communities. They possess the influence to advocate for the
voiceless, the marginali</span><span style="text-decoration: none;">s</span><span style="text-decoration: none;">ed,
and their fame... makes them well-suited to this opportunity.”</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The
Minister of Sport and Recreation in the first Mbeki Cabinet, Ngconde
Balfour, sought to deal with issues of equity and visible redress
during his time, but the inequality of opportunity for athletes
notoriously still persists to this day.
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Over
and above his captaincy of the Springboks, Siya Kolisi is the sports
person most South Africans would want to identify with. Not is he
only the most recognised athlete in South Africa, but he is one of
the smartest and most articulate South Africans committed to the
vision of a new, improved version of our country, and what he does in
wider society best epitomises the role athletes can play.
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">When
Covid-19 was rampant, and also when fires devastated shacks in
unequal Cape Town, we managed to collect food, clothing and other
supplies for victims. But the challenge was, how do we get the
supplies to where they were needed? Siya, through his
practically-minded foundation, provided us with trucks, thus filling
a gap and helping to deliver aid to the most marginalised, nearly
destitute people in society.
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">This
one example answers the question, should athletes and artists be part
of our public discourse? Yes, of course!
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">When
it comes to artists, one thinks back to apartheid days to recall how
the prophetic lyrics of those such as Miriam Makeba, Johnny Clegg,
Hugh Masekela and Jonas Gwangwa shaped our lives.</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Nowadays,
the example of Siya Kolisi drives the point home most effectively in
our democratic era. Unfortunately, he is an aberration. Why are all
our other athletes and artists not fulfilling their roles as
outspoken social critics, courageously addressing the inequalities of
opportunity? What are they afraid of?</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">It
is not just their fame that makes them well-suited to this task.
Ultimately, the historic dynamic of personal sacrifice in the
face of overwhelming opposition that most successful athletes and
artists represent make their actions all the more noble, and
ultimately more effective in advocating for equal rights and justice.</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Unquestionably,
there have been too many examples of those who used their platform
facing repercussions from the so-called powers that be. Athletes in
particular have been targetted for being outspoken.</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"> In
my mind, the greatest example was in 1967, when Muhammad Ali
refused to be inducted into the military on religious grounds. He
was subsequently arrested, stripped of his championship title, and
banned from boxing in the US for<span style="text-decoration: none;"> three
years.</span> His moral stand was later recognised when he was
granted conscientious objector status in 1971. Interestingly, by that
time most Americans felt that it had been a mistake to have fought in
Vietnam. He became an international icon for social justice and in
1997 was recognised with the Arthur <span style="text-decoration: none;">Ashe
Award </span><span style="text-decoration: none;">for Courage.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">In
the instant that successful athletes and artists discard their
individualistic professional identity for a communal one, they
humanise themselves to the nation in a powerful and relatable way. In
displaying endurance and a willingness to sacrifice, their
professional identity becomes subsumed into one of a caring
humanitarian.</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">In
South Africa, entertainers such as musicians seem to face less
scrutiny for their political actions than athletes. Entire music
festivals have been dedicated to protests, and these artists almost
certainly suffer fewer professional consequences when they
actively use their platforms for advocacy.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Perhaps
</span><span style="text-decoration: none;">sports stars are subjected
to more criticism on account of </span><span style="text-decoration: none;">sport’s
reputation as non-partisan, universally-adored entertainment, a
rallying point regardless of ideological differences. While this can
explain the backlash athletes can suffer for their protest and
activism, it is </span>exactly why we need them to be activists.
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The
power of disruption is an important one; often those who are
oppressed lack access to the traditional channels of change, and the
voice of famous athletes can help bring awareness to the toxicity of
the status quo. And when they suffer as a result, it helps to
highlight the way marginalised communities are held
in oppression by unjust and unstable power structures. </p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">When
athletes and artists are willing to risk their images, their pay
checks and possibly their entire careers for speaking up for the
poorest and most forgotten among us, it makes their statements all
the more powerful. And the courage they display when taking such
stands models the courage that it took for our forebears to resist
and eventually defeat oppression in South Africa.
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Archbishop Thabo Makgoba</b><br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { color: #000000; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-ZA }p.cjk { font-family: "Noto Serif CJK SC"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: zh-CN }p.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: hi-IN }</style></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-45569374056522789652024-03-01T17:26:00.001+02:002024-03-02T13:03:59.880+02:00Is the media fulfilling its role in promoting South African democracy? <p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><b>By Archbishop Thabo Makgoba</b></i></p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>As we observed the second week of Lent, and as the Bishops of the
Province met in Episcopal Synod this week to reflect and speak to
church and society, our lections demanded of us that we be alert,
that we take seriously how our behaviours affect others and, when
they are not conducive to abundant life in God, that we amend them. </i>
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>In the latest of </i><i>my series of reflections on the state of
society from a faith perspective, I examine how the media is taking
stock of its role and measuring up to what we require of it in our
current circumstances. </i>
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It is an unfortunate reflection on the quality of debate in
Parliament that real political life in South Africa is to be found on
the streets and in the media. Three decades into democracy, as we
gear up for our seventh national and provincial elections, we need to
ask: are the media facilitating or hindering the growth of democracy
in our country?
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A decade ago I was privileged to serve under the former Chief
Justice, Pius Langa, as a commissioner of the Press Freedom
Commission, which was appointed to recommend how best to ensure that
the press adheres to the highest ethical standards.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So to help answer my question on the media’s performance, I have
solicited the views of a range of media professionals – former
editors of print and broadcast media, journalism academics, board
members and ombuds – and tested them against the demands
articulated by the commission.</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In the commission’s report, we defined our primary objective as
being “To ensure press freedom in support of enhancing our
democracy which is founded on human dignity, the achievement of
equality and the advancement of human rights and freedom..."</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We were of course guided by the principles of the Constitution, which
guarantees freedom of expression, including media freedom and the
rights of everyone to impart information or ideas.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Now the Constitution does not include in its definition of these
freedoms the requirement that speech or private publications need to
be fair or balanced, or even that they be truthful. We are free, for
example, to promote propaganda in support of our ideas. In recent
years, as well as those publications which print propaganda, we have
seen the phenomenal growth of social media outlets, which – when
used well – have helped ordinary people to realise the
Constitution's promise of free speech. (In the church, for example,
our members don't hesitate to hold us to account on Twitter and
Facebook.)
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But propaganda, like the fake news and toxic debate we see on social
media, is of no value in promoting human dignity, equality and the
advancement of human rights. Nor is it of any use at all in helping
voters provide the reliable and truthful information they need to
make informed choices at election time.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Fortunately, we have in South Africa private and public media
committed under the codes of conduct of the Press Council and the
Broadcasting Complaints Commission to publishing truthful information
and diverse views. When operating at their best, they are
independently edited by experienced professional journalists who are
neither mere tools of their bosses and shareholders, nor hijacked by
politicians.</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Journalists with inflated opinions of their influence are often
brought back to earth by research which says that what they publish
rarely changes the minds of their readers and viewers. That said, the
media set agendas: they tell us what to think about, how long we
should be thinking and talking about something and they can influence
how we think about something.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Ideally, they hold those in power accountable and enable democracy by
giving voters the information they need to become, as Mamphela
Ramphele has said, “active citizens” instead of “passive
subjects”. Unlike newspapers during the apartheid era, which were
often banned and always constrained by more than 100 laws, they can
promote transparency to ensure that the mistakes of the past are not
repeated.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In short, the media in South Africa have demonstrated that they have
the power to influence individual beliefs, attitudes, behaviours,
choices and decisions. But in one area that is crucial to the
effective growth of democracy in South Africa, they fall short: most
of our print, online and broadcast outlets speak to or reflect the
interests of social and political elites.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In the Press Freedom Commission's 2012 report, we noted that
“Diversity of content in the media is essential to ensure that the
voices and opinions of all South Africans are heard." When it
came to print journalism, we added: "It has been noted that the
voices of some sections of the population are seldom heard in
newspapers. The increased urbanisation of the print media has
resulted from the concentration of both advertising and editorial
imperatives on the large urban areas where larger newspapers are
situated. Even national newspapers focus more on urban news. This
results in fewer voices of rural people being published.”</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Has the situation improved since then? There have been some positive
developments: online or print outlets financed by philanthropic
foundations and trusts which respect the independence of editors, and
which – within their limited means – try to publish news about
those otherwise ignored.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But traditional print media is in grave financial straits. Newspaper
circulations have plummeted in the past decade and although there is
growth in online news, it competes with the unreliable content seen
on social media. Reporters who continue to travel to smaller towns
and rural areas deserve praise and support but many papers cover
their lack of ability to put reporters on the ground by running
opinion pieces from politicians or academics.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With some exceptions, the media are not good at covering those whom
they do not see in front of them – the 40 percent or so who still
live in former “homeland” areas. And if you came to South Africa
from another planet, you might think you had arrived on another
continent, so little news from the rest of Africa – even
crisis-hit, war-torn regions – would you see or hear.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The picture in broadcasting is not much better.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A former media executive who helped launch a new commercial broadcast
venture tells me that at the outset their stated aim was to give a
voice to the marginalised. But within months, the “market” taught
them that it was not the marginalised, or even “the workers”, who
bought new cars or bakkies – if the station wanted to attract
advertising from businesses to sustain itself, it had to avoid
antagonising them, so ended up paying lip service to the poor.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For its part, public broadcasting is not realising its full
potential. Another former executive gave me chapter and verse of how
the SABC’s transformation in the early 1990s from a state
broadcaster into a public one has soured.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Under the visionary leadership of the late Zwelakhe Sisulu, the SABC
began building a new, inclusive public broadcaster which aimed to
develop a professional and fair news service that reached the poorest
of communities around the country. But two crucial developments
served to shift their focus.</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
First, political interference began to take place after the 2004
election when, for example, the news department began to spend vast
sums, not on getting reporters to rural areas or uncovering problems
with poor township schools, but instead on covering senior
politicians on myriad overseas trips. Censorship was reinstated, with
prominent experts on Zimbabwe banned from the airwaves. Then
financial disaster hit during the reign of the political deployee,
Hlaudi Motsoeneng.</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I speak frequently to SABC journalists who are consummate
professionals, and broadcasting experts acknowledge that the SABC is
challenged not only by poor governance and corruption – its onerous
public service mandate is largely unfunded and so it has to rely on
advertising for most of its revenue.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But its response to the financial crisis was to undermine the reforms
of the 1990s. An example of this can be seen in radio, the medium
which can do the most to represent and reflect the interests of the
poor.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With about 37 million people relying on it as their main source of
news, radio has more listeners than print media has readers, reaching
every corner of the country, both urban and rural. In the 1990s, the
SABC established an integrated news team that could report all the
news to every station in each of our 11 official languages.</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But in response to the financial crisis, news and current affairs
programmes in prime-time slots were cancelled and the time was given
to talk shows. Call-in shows can be deceptive. Listeners may think
they are getting “news” but phone-ins are not the same as news
reports, which to stand up to scrutiny, have to be verified,
balanced, and fair.
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Commercial stations, whether private or public, generally fill their
time with call-in shows because “talk is cheap and news is
expensive.” In effect, listeners provide free content. It is
expensive to send reporters out to far-flung, or even local areas.</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As a result of this change of focus, it is effectively the elites
whose voices get heard: listeners with air-time and the opportunity
to call in, politicians, academics and business leaders.</p>
<p class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;">Journalism
is a key and central feature of a democracy. Without it, leaders are
largely left unaccountable and the voices of the poor are unheard. We
have been blessed in South Africa with a free and often robust media
which have done an outstanding job in recent years of exposing
corruption and misrule, as well as a judiciary with integrity that
has withstood political pressures.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But right now, and especially leading up to the May 29 elections, the
greatest challenge facing the media is to step away from being an
interlocutor between the middle classes – both old and new elites –
and reflect those who are still struggling to be citizens.</p><p><style type="text/css">p { color: #000000; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Calibri", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-GB }p.cjk { font-family: "Calibri"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.ctl { font-family: ; font-size: 12pt; so-language: ar-SA }</style></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-4357638319434649902024-02-22T19:31:00.000+02:002024-02-22T19:31:13.149+02:00 What role does education play in the public discourse and in shaping South Africa’s future state?<p><i>In the second of a series of Lenten reflections on the
challenges facing South African society,
motivated by our readings in the Lectionary, the Archbishop focuses on education. </i></p><p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
At their heart, our current Lenten readings call us to set our houses
in order, engaging in deeper introspection to help us boldly proclaim
God’s name in the healing of our society. This week, I am asking:
As we celebrate the 30<sup>th</sup> anniversary of our democracy,
what is the role education should play in the discourse around the
future of our country?
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In the words of Madiba, “Education is the most powerful weapon
which you can use to change the world.” And Barbara Jordan, an
American educator, lawyer and politician noted that, <span style="font-style: normal;">“Education
remains the key to both economic and political empowerment.”</span></p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">When I was inaugurated as Chancellor
of the University of the Western Cape, I asserted that the purpose of
education should be to develop the ability of students to practise
discernment and to be part of the solution, not the problem, as we
confront the world’s challenges; in other words it should be about
teaching wisdom. </span>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">As we approach the national and
provincial elections on May 29, we ought to place high priority on
demanding of our national and provincial parties and candidates how
they plan to deal with the crisis in education in South Africa. </span>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">It is not overstating the challenge
we face to declare that our country </span>is educationally bankrupt:</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<ul><li><p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">While
the government has good policies on issues such as school
infrastructure, delivery on those policies in townships and to the
rural poor is dangerously inadequate, with woefully too few proper
toilets, too little clean water and, importantly, a lack of
schoolbooks and textbooks;</p>
</li></ul>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<ul><li><p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">There
is a yawning gap between class sizes in overcrowded predominantly
black schools and those in middle-class schools in formerly white
areas;</p>
</li></ul>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<ul><li><p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Our
curricula give far too little attention to the need to teach our
children about ethics, morality, values-based decisions and
appreciating the consequences of their actions.</p>
</li></ul>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<ul><li><p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">As
has been revealed recently, four of every five learners in Grade
Four are under-performing when it comes to reading for meaning.
</p>
</li></ul>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Of course,
since the advent of democracy we have achieved better access to basic
education, and we need to celebrate teachers who make the best of
teaching and learning under tough conditions. But we must also
challenge our political parties on exactly how they propose to
improve funding, especially for no-fee schools in poorer areas, and
to achieve equality for all in the provision of education.
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">What
worries me is whether the politicians really have the commitment
necessary to improve the quality of education.
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">A few
years ago, the commentator Moeletsi Mbeki concluded in a report on
voting patterns and the educational level of voters that it is in
best interests of the ruling party not to have an educated
electorate. This was troubling to me at the time and remains so
today. It suggests that it suits political leaders, the moneyed and
the powerful if we as citizens – and especially black South
Africans – are prevented from becoming an informed electorate.
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">It goes
without saying, but is worthy of repeating, that to be uneducated is
not to be fully free. Only the educated are truly free. Ignorance and
illiteracy render voters susceptible to populist politics,
manipulation and coercion, serving the interests of demagogues and
the morally corrupt. Organising one’s followers means listening to
them, not manipulating them. Leaders who insist on imposing decisions
on people do not liberate, nor are they liberated: instead they
oppress.</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Is the
desire of politicians for voters who can be easily manipulated the
reason education is pushed to the back-burner when it comes to
election time? In this election season, where is the dialogue, the
debate, the discourse about the condition of our education system and
the future state of South Africa?
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">My
conversations with educators – from parents and learners to
teachers and activists, to a member of a governing body and the
chairperson of a university council – tell me that in this debate,
we ought to be challenging a number of different players:</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<ul><li><p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">As
well as calling on parties to outline their policy proposals, we
must hold the government’s feet to the fire on how it will
overcome the failure to teach learners to read well enough to equip
them to cope in our capitalist-driven society.</p>
</li><li><p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">We
need to challenge business to support the closing of our country’s
education gaps.</p>
</li><li><p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">We
need our universities to produce social reform activists who speak
up, register to vote and use their voices to shape our country’s
future.</p>
</li><li><p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Moreover,
we need tertiary education at all levels to equip graduates to meet
the needs of our economy, not those of economies overseas.
</p>
</li><li><p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Lastly,
teachers have a role in unmasking and defeating the agendas of those
whose interests are served by the status quo.
</p>
</li></ul>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Some years
ago I attended a high-level school on governance, economics and
management in Hong Kong, which looked at how to achieve a new
“economy of life”. Such an economy would replace the current
global governance of money with financial systems which are less
exploitative and share resources and income more equitably. We need
to develop initiatives such as this to help our young people dare to
challenge old stereotypes and find new ways of making an ever more
complex and fast-paced world into an ethical and sustainable place
for all.
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">And I
strongly believe it is the responsibility of teachers to take sides
in this struggle – part of what I call the New Struggle, one that
replaces the old struggle against apartheid and works to eliminate
the inequalities in our society which have been perpetuated in
democratic South Africa; a struggle which favours the “rag-pickers”
– the poor, the exploited and the downtrodden – and stands up to
injustice, as the Brazilian educator and philosopher, Paulo Freire,
argued in his seminal work, <i>Pedagogy of the Oppressed</i>.</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Because of
the admiration our communities have for our teachers, their activism
is essential. They need to join civil society in raising awareness
through protests and peaceful mobilisation. Failing to take sides and
engage on behalf of the oppressed makes the teacher simply another
minion of the corporate world.
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Education
is not only a preparation for life, but life itself. It can shape the
coming generations into virtuous, informed citizens committed to
achieving equality, and can provide our children and grandchildren
pathways to solving political and societal problems we ourselves are
unable to resolve. </span>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">A
peaceful and sustainable future hinges on our willingness to confront
many of the assumptions we take for granted and upon which our system
of inequality rests. There can be no true democracy without all
voices being heard and respected. Such mutual respect benefits
all—the oppressor and the oppressed. To glorify democracy and to
silence the people is a farce; to enter a discourse on humanism but
at the same time to negate people is a lie. </span>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Equality
does not mean sameness; it means each of us enjoys equal freedom to
explore and pursue our dreams and aspirations without limiting the
dreams and aspirations of others. That may sound idealistic, even
utopian, but that it a lot better than the dystopian miasma of mass
poverty and exploitation that we are headed for now. And overhauling
our education system is critical to achieving equality.
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><b>††Thabo Cape Town</b></i>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { color: #000000; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-ZA }p.cjk { font-family: "Noto Serif CJK SC"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: zh-CN }p.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: hi-IN }</style></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-31733956694867758702024-02-16T12:19:00.000+02:002024-02-16T12:19:06.512+02:00 What is business’s role in public discourse and what is its responsibility in shaping South Africa’s future state?<p><i>During Lent, the Archbishop is issuing a series of reflections on the challenges facing different sections of South African society, motivated by our readings in the Lectionary and based on conversations with and inputs from influential leaders in their fields. His first reflection focuses on the business sector. </i><br /><br />One of my greatest disappointments about our country today is how cynical we have become, particularly when it comes to the role of business in public discourse. One of the lessons my father taught me that has stuck with me was never to become a cynic, reflected in the saying: “A cynic is one who, when smelling the scent of flowers, looks around for a coffin. Don’t ever become that person.”<br /><br />Those who know me know that I am the antithesis of a cynic. Yet, as I travel the country, the overwhelming reverberations of the conversations I have are that cynicism captures the national conversation, spirit and attitude in almost all segments of our South African society, particularly business. This has become the spark, the catalyst for a series of editorial challenges I plan to preach and write about over the next six weeks. My goal is to share with you my thoughts on the opportunities the various sectors of our country have to impact positively our upcoming election in the short term and shape our future in the long term.<br /><br />As we enter the season of Lent, our lections stress that true fasting seeks, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, to loose the bonds of injustice and let the oppressed go free, which in South Africa today means growing our economy with the objective of sharing its fruits more equitably. <br /><br />Where to start? Perhaps it is no more complicated than having the courage simply to say: “Enough is enough!” In society we always pay a penalty for indifference and inaction. Unquestionably, taking action always involves risks, but adopting a position of comfortable inaction carries much greater risks. <br /><br />In South Africa, we have long had a love-hate relationship with business and the success that can be derived from it. Thirty years after winning our political liberation, despite falling short of our objective of achieving economic liberation, our relationship with business has improved considerably. <br /><br />For many it has grown from hate to love, largely because it has been seen as democratic—ethically conducted, it spreads its benefits broadly, and success in it is often viewed as a matter of merit, not just luck. Not only that: it has become the tie that not only binds the culture but defines it to a large degree.<br /><br />As a result, many South Africans have developed an almost religious belief in the power of business. The durability of the business community through all our country’s crises and the vortex of governmental corruption, ineptness and incapacity has led to the belief that the sector can remedy all of our challenges and deliver the country to the promised land. This is testimony to the quality of many, but not all, of our business leaders—especially of those who represent quality of character, make values-based decisions and genuinely have South Africa’s best interests in both their hearts and their minds. <br /><br />Business has in many areas been seen positively for the last two decades or more, but it will be viewed positively only as long as it is seen as capable of delivering the goods. The great question is, how will the business world cope if and when it cannot meet everybody’s needs? What is it going to be like for people if the bottom falls out? <br /><br />Today, as our economy keeps cooling, as the government displays its inadequacy, and as we contemplate an election in which we have an unprecedented range of new parties to choose from, I believe that 60 million South Africans would like business leaders to contemplate and answer a number of questions: <br /><br /> • How can I help create equal opportunities for all?<br /> • How can my business work to overcome the continuing inequality in a society which claims to want to eliminate it? <br /> • How can I reduce the polarisation being pushed by some political parties?<br /> • Given the positive attitude to business of many young people, how can companies be a catalyst for championing youth voter registration?<br /> • How can companies use their political influence responsibly? <br /> • What role can business play in exemplifying courage in meeting these challenges? <br /><br />There are three practical steps business can take to address these questions: <br /><br />The first step is probably the most difficult. It involves the business community showing its spine by refusing to do any business with the state without government making a tangible shift towards meeting its responsibilities, addressing inequalities of opportunity and service delivery, and making demonstrable efforts to root out systemic corruption.<br /><br />The second step is for companies to create working groups at top executive and board level to draw up corporate political responsibility strategies, as distinct from social responsibility strategies, focusing on the company’s role in creating the architecture for the future state of South Africa. <br /><br />The third step is to have these executive-level committees answer the six questions that I’ve asked above, and to consider whether it isn’t time for South African companies to rethink, redefine and reset their corporate social responsibility strategies to align with corporate political responsibility strategies.<br /><br />In urging business to take this path, I am conscious that corporate leaders face complex questions about whom they represent and on what basis. Big business has traditionally avoided taking overt political stances; after all, why would they want to alienate potential customers? But in reality, the line demarcating business from politics has never been more than a convenient fiction — one that becomes less credible with each passing year.<br /><br />In other parts of the world, companies are urged to balance the interests of all their stakeholders, not just shareholders but also their staff, their customers and their potential customers among the wider population. But the desire to balance stakeholder interests and speak up for employees or customers on high-stakes societal questions is colliding with the realities of divided, polarised workforces, political dysfunction, and anger about corporate hypocrisy.<br /><br />What is needed are considered and deliberate strategies for speaking up. Lacking both the authority and the mechanisms to advocate or represent everyone’s interests in a coherent way, corporate leaders risk undermining both their businesses and other societal institutions when they claim that they can — or feel that they must. <br /><br />My friends in business tell me that companies tend to make three big mistakes when setting and publicising societal, political, and environmental priorities.<br /><br />Firstly, they aspire to speak out on too many issues to appease stakeholders in the short term. Making a public statement is often a way to compensate for, or distract from, a lack of meaningful action. Secondly, organisations fail to set tight priorities, ending up with a laundry list of too many goals and aspirations. When companies suggest that they can address every relevant issue, they over-promise and under-deliver, fuelling impatience and diminishing trust. Thirdly, senior leadership teams tend to set strategy and goals in isolation from the rest of their workforce or delegate the task to teams of consultants. <br /><br />Business experts urge that changing the way companies determine their priorities—and whom they involve—can correct all three errors. They need to listen to a wide range of concerns and opinions, including those of their employees, then focus on the handful of issues they are truly capable of prioritising. <br /><br />In South Africa, we are seeing strong external as well as internal drivers that are forcing companies to define themselves as social and political actors in addition to their traditional role as economic engines. Whether leadership teams like it or not, putting one’s head in the sand is no longer a viable option. Perceptive and innovative businesses move proactively with these trends and turn them into opportunities and competitive advantages. <br /><br />Of course, we need to be careful not to expect business – or for that matter government, or any other institution – to create heaven on earth. When we put too much confidence in any worldly system, it is bound to disappoint us at some point. So business, and the great striving that accompanies it, will continue to be one of the most significant forces in South African culture, but it will always struggle against people’s need for a perspective that is beyond these worlds. We all have to get used to that tension.<br /><br />It seems to me that at our best, in South Africa we have held individualism and a communitarian spirit in creative tension. We need to keep doing that if we are to maintain social stability. In my view, we are in a time in this country in which our faith in capitalism has combined with a radical sense of individualism to create a dangerous degree of selfishness. It is expressed in the sense, “I have got mine; you get yours. I am going to hold on to mine, and I will support a system that allows you to hold onto yours, but I am not going to share any of mine.” Even worse, there are political and government leaders who justify corruption with the phrase, “It's our turn to eat.” Those ways of thinking corrupt capitalism, putting a sharp, mean face on a system that has the capacity to do great good.<br /><br />If you treat success in business as life’s ultimate goal, then it becomes a great, glowering, impressive, but empty and futile, tin god. Business must be a means, not the end. </p><p><i><b>††Thabo Cape Town</b></i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-73106711245948152522024-01-24T12:31:00.000+02:002024-01-24T12:31:05.518+02:00Ad Laos - To the People of God – January 2024<p><i>Dear People of God</i></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">We begin the New Year amidst conflict abroad and political contests at home as we look on with horror at the war between Israel and Hamas, agonise over the continuing conflict in Sudan, and hear the loud voices of squabbling politicians both within and between the parties gearing up for our national and provincial elections later this year.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The fighting in the Middle East has drawn intense scrutiny across South Africa, no more so than in Cape Town, where we have important communities supporting both Palestine and Israel and where Anglicans hold strong views on both sides. If you are confused about the issues, I recommend following last year's Lenten Bible Studies, which noted that the modern state of Israel should not be confused with the Israel of the Bible. You can see the first of the studies here: </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"><u><a href="https://bit.ly/3HmmMx8" style="color: navy;">https://bit.ly/3HmmMx8</a></u></span></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"><u><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/12/sermon-for-midnight-mass-st-georges.html" style="color: navy;">my Christmas sermon</a></u></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, I addressed the fighting in the Middle East, where after two months the death and destruction inflicted on Gaza had already matched that in the notorious bombing of Dresden in Germany in World War II. I said it is as if the military wings of Hamas and Israel have reverted to fighting by the standards of atrocity deployed in wars of the early 20</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> century, with both sides committing war crimes and with leaders on both sides guilty of rhetoric which constitutes incitement to genocide, or which will be interpreted as such by their followers. </span></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Soon after the Daily Maverick published </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"><u><a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-12-25-no-matter-how-hard-i-try-to-fill-my-heart-with-the-joy-of-christmas-it-gets-harder-and-harder/" style="color: navy;">excerpts from my sermon</a></u></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, South Africa filed its case against Israel in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where one of the lawyers representing our country was Professor John Dugard, a leading legal academic in the struggle against apartheid and one-time Chancellor of the Diocese of Johannesburg. I </span><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"><u><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2024/01/a-prayer-for-international-court-of.html" style="color: navy;">issued a prayer for the court</a></u></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> as the case began, which is published in this issue of Good Hope, and I urge you to pray for the judges, including our former Deputy Chief Justice, Justice Dikgang Moseneke.</span></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I found our presentations to the court chilling. Based on our experience in South Africa, I found it impossible to accept the contention from Israel's lawyers that the court should not base its ruling on “harsh statements” by Israel's leaders – those suggesting that all Palestinians, including women and children, were legitimate targets – but on the policy and decisions of Israel's war cabinet and security cabinet. Our Truth and Reconciliation Commission did not find policy documents showing that killings and torture were explicitly authorised by the apartheid government. But when its foot soldiers appeared before the commission, they justified their atrocities by quoting precisely the kind of rhetoric from our cabinet ministers which Israel's leaders are using.</span></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Although the court does not have to decide at this stage whether Israel is guilty of inciting genocide, it does have to decide whether to order the country to take measures to curb the death, destruction and human suffering being experienced by Palestinians. Whatever the outcome of the case, our application to the court has already had some effect on Israel, with their leaders softening their rhetoric and their military saying their war is against Hamas and not the people of Gaza.</span></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Please pray for the people of Sudan, where more than 9,000 people have been killed since the civil war between two military forces started last April, and where 17 million people are suffering high levels of acute food insecurity as a result. This conflict gets scandalously little attention in the international community.</span></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On the 30</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> anniversary of our political liberation in South Africa, we need to recommit ourselves to the economic liberation which we have not yet achieved. As our politics reconfigures itself, that too can be confusing. I urge you ignore the bickering and personal attacks, and demand that political parties – both old and new – spell out their policy decisions, enabling you to make wise choices when you enter your voting station later this year. And of course, pray for a peaceful process in which the true will of the people is expressed.</span></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally, in all the controversy and uncertainty that surrounds us, let not the still small voice of our God – the God who says you are my children in whom I am well pleased – be drowned out. May this be your experience, and that of your families and everyone around you, throughout the coming year.</span></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">God bless</span></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><b>††Thabo Cape Town</b></i></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-82635651945511186962024-01-10T17:10:00.022+02:002024-01-11T16:41:30.746+02:00A Prayer for the International Court of JusticeArchbishop Thabo issued the following prayer to the church today, ahead of the case in The Hague on Thursday and Friday in which South Africa will ask the International Court of Justice to interdict Israel from its actions in Gaza:
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<i><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1es-8nXdi3VdpqBuVqduuof4Ds8CJQ4ei/view?usp=drive_link" target="_blank"><b>Download the prayer here >></b></a><b><a href="https://bit.ly/3vwe6BK" target="_blank"></a></b></i>
</p><p><br /></p><p><b>A Prayer for the International Court of Justice</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>Lord, the world – your world – is sick of war.</p><p>Religious leaders sometimes call this anachronism “just war”,</p><p>But wars kill and instill fear in your children,</p><p>Wars blind your people to reality and truth,</p><p>Whereas you call us to search for non-violent solutions to human conflict.</p><p><br /></p><p>Seeking that all should live in peace and that hostages of war are released,</p><p>We turn our gaze today to The Hague,</p><p>We pray for members of the International Court of Justice,</p><p>That they will say “Yes” to justice and peace, and “No” to violence and conflict.</p><p><br /></p><p>We say this war in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon must stop,</p><p>That it's time to reveal your truth and bring all war to an end.</p><p>Be with all who seat around tables seeking peace,</p><p>Speak to the moral conscience of soldiers,</p><p>Speak to those who supply weapons to the world's killing fields,</p><p>Turn their thoughts and deeds to those of peace.</p><p>We ask this in your name,</p><p>For you are the Life and the Resurrection.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Amen</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b><i>Archbishop Thabo Makgoba</i></b></p><p><b><i>January 11, 2023</i></b></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 1px; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 2.5cm;"><br /></p><p>
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</p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-60522083222638883252023-12-25T00:05:00.020+02:002023-12-26T11:15:52.975+02:00Sermon for Midnight Mass, St George's Cathedral <p style="text-align: center;"><b> Sermon for Midnight Eucharist </b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Cathedral Church of St George the Martyr</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Archbishop of Cape Town</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Christmas Eve 2023</b></p><span></span><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/12/sermon-for-midnight-mass-st-georges.html#more"></a>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-81501167996998314222023-12-24T11:12:00.011+02:002023-12-26T13:34:50.968+02:00[VIDEO] TV news reports on the Archbishop's Christmas sermon<p> </p>
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From SABC News:
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gb-OyXP1C70?si=IR_FyOJXfdRQ9YXh" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
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From Newzroom Africa:
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Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-30983943426073136072023-12-20T15:30:00.002+02:002023-12-20T15:30:28.144+02:00Ad Laos - To the People of God – Christmas 2023 <h2 style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Dear People of God</span></i></h2><p>We celebrate the Advent of the Prince of Peace this year in
violent and distressing conditions – war in the Holy Land, Sudan
and Ukraine, to name but a few, and tough economic times at home.
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<br />
The siege of Gaza has led many to call for a “Black Christmas” in
Bethlehem, where Jesus was born and which, being on the West Bank
of the Jordan River, has in recent weeks experienced an upsurge of
conflict and killings associated with the fighting in Gaza.<br />
<br />
During our own struggle against oppression, when people were being
killed in many of our townships in the 1980s, we also discussed
observing a Black Christmas, curtailing our celebrations out of
respect for those who were suffering. At that time, we drew a
clear distinction between boycotting the secular, profit-making
commercial celebration of the season – which was appropriate to
the times – and our celebration in church of the birth of our
Saviour and Redeemer – which we continued to insist upon. <br />
<br />
Nevertheless, the clear distinction we draw as Anglicans between
the Season of Advent and the Season of Christmas can help us
respond appropriately to the demands of our time. Advent, which we
are observing now, is a time of reflection, of contemplation, as
we prepare for the coming of our Lord. So this Advent season, let
us focus our prayers, our giving and our concern on those who
suffer, whether it is the poorest of the poor in our own
communities and country, or those around the world driven from
their homes, displaced from their communities, tending to the
wounded and mourning the dead.<br />
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Then, in Anglican tradition, let us begin the Season of Christmas
when it should begin, on Christmas Day, by joyfully celebrating
the birth of him who is the hope of the world, more especially in
times of darkness and despair.<br />
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A blessed, peaceful and very happy Christmas to each and every one
of you! </p><p><i><b>††Thabo Cape Town</b></i></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-5687718102929434022023-12-17T14:47:00.005+02:002023-12-17T14:48:31.442+02:00Sermon preached at the Funeral of the Rt Revd Adam Andrease Mallane Taaso<p align="center" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.84px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><b>Funeral of the Rt Revd Adam Andrease Mallane Taaso</b></span></p><p align="center" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.84px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><b>Diocese of Lesotho</b></span></p><p align="center" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.84px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><b>Tsehlanyane, Leribe District: Butha Buthe</b></span></p><p align="center" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.84px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><b>Preacher and President</b></span></p><p align="center" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.84px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><b>The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba</b></span></p><p align="center" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.84px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><b>Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of ACSA</b></span></p><p align="center" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.84px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><b>16</b></span><sup><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><b>th</b></span></sup><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><b> December 2023</b></span></p><p align="center" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.84px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><br></p><p align="center" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.84px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><i style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Readings: Isaiah 53: 8 -10; Psalm 23; Romans 8: 31 – 38; Luke 14: 15 – 23</i></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.84px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><br></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">May I speak in the name of God the Father, who by the power of the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from death to life, that we might be called to our eternal home, a place that he has prepared for us with joy, the God whom Bishop Adam so dearly loved.</span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Your Majesty, your Ministers present, dear sisters and brothers in Christ; dear Mrs Taaso (Me' Mats'epo), your children and grandchildren, your families and friends, dear colleagues and guests from far and near. It is with great sadness that we gather here today to offer our condolences to Me' Mats'epo, your family and the wider Diocese and community on the passing of Ntate Adam, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a brother, an uncle, a colleague, a friend, and a Bishop in God’s church.</span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span></span></p><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/12/sermon-preached-at-funeral-of-rt-revd.html#more"></a>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-42505210797265202322023-11-29T18:02:00.002+02:002023-11-29T18:02:41.061+02:00Impala Platinum disaster "a profound wound on the heart of our nation" <i><b>To all those touched by the heart-wrenching tragedy at Impala Platinum, </b></i><br /><br />In
this moment of profound sorrow and uncertainty, I extend my deepest
condolences to the families, friends, and communities affected by this
devastating incident. The loss of lives in such tragic circumstances is a
profound wound on the heart of our nation, and the pain of those left
behind is immeasurable.<br /><br />As we collectively grapple with the
aftermath of this tragedy, we hope that the ongoing investigations will
be pursued with the utmost urgency and diligence. It is crucial that
every effort is made to understand how this tragedy occurred and to
ensure that those impacted receive the support they need to navigate
through this incredibly difficult time.<br /><br />In these trying moments,
we are reminded that we are our brother's and our sister's keeper. We
are called to stand in solidarity with one another, to support and
uphold each other, especially in times of hardship and loss. It is a
reminder that our destinies are intertwined, and that in supporting
others we uplift ourselves.<br /><br />I want to assure all those affected
by this tragedy that you are not alone in your grief. The church offers
its unwavering support and prayers. We stand with you, we mourn with
you, and we commit to walking alongside you through this valley of
shadows.<br /><br />May the grace and peace that surpasses all understanding
be with you all during this time of mourning and reflection. Let us
hold fast to each other, find strength in our unity, and trust that
through our collective support and prayers, some measure of peace and
solace can be found.<br /><br /><i>With heartfelt prayers,</i><br /><br /><b>The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba <br /></b><p><b>Archbishop of Cape Town </b> </p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-27403231711258787002023-11-21T07:42:00.005+02:002023-11-23T11:43:58.563+02:00Acceptance Note upon receipt of the AACC Human Rights Award<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Acceptance note by Thabo
Makgoba</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>All Africa Conference of Churches</b></span></p><p>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>November 20, 2023</b></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>The award was made in Abuja, Nigeria, during<a href="https://www.aacc-ceta.org/en/aacc-12th-general-assembly-opens-60th-anniversary-celebrations" target="_blank"> the 12th General Assembly of the AACC</a>. The <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MscQLqG_jj58nbV7yap4oV_dw2RseYMP/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">citation for the award can be found here >></a></i><br />
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">To God be the glory! Thank you
so much, I am humbled and deeply touched by the affirmation and
honour of being the recipient of this prestigious AACC Human Rights
Award.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Congratulations to the AACC on
your 60th anniversary, on this 12th Assembly and on establishing this
award. Thanks to the President, the Secretary General, the Awards
Committee in particular and for those who nominated me and
interviewed me. I receive this honour and award on behalf of the many
whose rights are trampled and the many in our churches across this
great continent who work tirelessly to ensure democracy, governance,
human rights and the rule of law are upheld. </span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">In one of my responses to the
interviewers, I said that “At the heart of the church's advocacy of
Democracy, Human Rights, Good Governance and the Rule of Law is our
care for God's people, for their welfare, their safety and their
inclusion in the kind of economic and social development which will
ensure the abundant life which our Saviour promises them.”</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">For me, my public ministry
over the years has centred on carrying out walks of witness, and
working within a prophetic theological framework which I call the new
struggle. </span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Walks of witness entail
literally walking together with my fellow pastors through places
where people live in squalor – amongst the excluded, those on the
periphery of society. In the latest example, I joined other church
leaders in Johannesburg on a walk of witness to the scene of a
devastating building fire which killed more than 70 people. The
people in that overcrowded five-storey home lived in a so-called
“Mnyama ndawo”, a “dark place”, an abandoned, dilapidated
building without running water, electricity or sanitation, where
rubbish piled up and rats ran through stagnant water. Many of those
affected were migrants from other parts of our continent, drawn to
the so-called “City of Gold” by dreams of a better future. Their
plight highlighted the sin of xenophobia in South Africa, where
foreigners are often forced to live in run-down ghettos because they
are not welcome in our communities. The church should be a safe space
for all the nations, yet we often find that people of other nations
are not welcomed.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then, in the spirit of the old
church struggle against apartheid, we have adopted the concept of the
new struggle to call upon political elites to be accountable to
voters and, instead of pocketing the wealth of their countries, to
govern in the interests of the poorest of the poor. In South Africa,
we say that the new struggle is a new struggle for a new era, a new
struggle for a new generation, a struggle to regain our moral compass
in the face of the corruption that now plagues our country, a
struggle to end the economic inequality we inherited from colonialism
and apartheid, and a struggle to ensure that the promises of our
Constitution are kept. And I am hopeful that if the churches, other
religious bodies and civil society join this struggle, we can succeed
in turning South Africa around and putting us back on the path on
which Nelson Mandela set us. </span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">My concern is not limited to
shouting from the rooftops. I also urge those who hold economic power
to conduct their business in the interests of the communities in
which they work, for example by getting mining houses to build
toilets in schools without sanitation.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">In a number of cases, my
advocacy has concerned situations outside South Africa. Just before
last Christmas I visited Ukraine to express our solidarity with that
country in the face of an external invasion. In the last few weeks,
in my own Diocese of Cape Town, where we also have large Muslim and
Jewish communities, we have seen a number of protests over the war in
Gaza. I have condemned all violence against civilians, whether it is
in Gaza, the West Bank of the Jordan or Israel, and called for a
solution in the Holy Land which will bring justice to the
Palestinians and security for all who live in the region. I have also
advocated boycotts of those who supply arms to the Middle East,
including those in the West.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">But it is also important that
we speak out on issues in other countries on our own continent.
Analysts tell us that people are in armed conflict with one another
in more than 40 countries in the world, and – as a number of those
attending this assembly can tell us – a number of those are in
Africa. Right now, as the Global North focuses on conflict in the
Middle East, the world is not giving enough attention to Sudan, where
fighting between the regular army and the paramilitary RSF is
devastating the country. The United Nations tells us that this war
has killed more than 9,000 people since April, and has forced more
than five-and-a-half million to flee their homes. We have also seen
the re-emergence of military coups, especially in West Africa,
starting in Mali three years ago, and spreading since to Chad,
Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon. Sadly, some of those countries
have been subjected to multiple coups, and even more sadly, we are
told that some of the coups are a result of the failure of civilian
governments.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">To conclude: As pastors
concerned for the welfare of God's people, the new struggle, our
neighbours far and near, we are constantly challenged to ask: Where
is the body of Christ when our sisters and brothers are in pain?</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">It is my hope that as
recipient of this Award, I will continue to play my part, and that
the existence of the Award will ensure that we all continue to give a
high priority to working to ensure that the God-given rights of all
God's children, in Africa and beyond, are respected by governments
and other actors in society.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Africa, my home and my future,
I thank you.</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { color: #000000; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-ZA }p.cjk { font-family: "Noto Serif CJK SC"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: zh-CN }p.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: hi-IN }</style></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-29169710391409912712023-11-17T09:31:00.000+02:002023-11-17T09:31:13.865+02:00Ad Laos - To the People of God – November 2023 <p></p><p>
</p><p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>D<span style="font-size: small;">ear People of God</span></i></p><p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;">I write from the Eastern Cape,
where amidst the challenges faced by our country and our world, we
held a joyous celebration of the 100th</span><span style="font-size: small;">
anniversary of the building of All Saints Church, Mbokotwana, in the
Diocese of Mthatha, a church built to commemorate the martyrs of the
same name. </span>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> In <a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/11/sermon-for-commemoration-of-martyrs-of.html">my
sermon</a>, I asked for prayers for the places in the world, more
than 40 in all, where people are in armed conflict with another, and
especially for Sudan, where 9,000 people have been killed in civil
war this year, and for Palestine and Israel. After the service a nun
– the Mother Superior at a convent in nearby Tsolo – came up to
me and appealed, “Arch, we dare not give in to evil and war, please
let's pray without ceasing.” In similar vein, the former Eastern
Cape health MEC, Dr Bevan Goqwana, spoke of how fear leads to hate,
and that we dare not give up love. Their words, the worship of the
congregation, and the example of the Martyrs of Mbokotwana, all
helped to reinforce my determination to continue praying and speaking
the truth in love as best I can. </span>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> In that spirit, I call upon
all to pray and work for a solution to the crisis in the Holy Land
which will bring justice to the Palestinians and security for all who
live in the region. The cries that are coming from Palestinian
mothers in Gaza – “I have nothing, I have no hope either, all I
know is that I won’t die alone but will die with my family” –
are deeply distressing. Are we deaf to the sounds of grenades and
blind to how power is being exercised? Are we hearing the cries for
life, for the silencing of guns and missiles so they can be turned
into ploughshares? </span>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> The tensions which the
conflict is generating in South Africa – and especially in Cape
Town – are worrying, and I appeal for magnanimity and tolerance
from everyone who is expressing varied views on the violence in Gaza
and the West Bank of the Jordan. In <a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/11/archbishops-message-to-palestine.html">a
message</a> to a Palestine solidarity rally read for me last week by
Dean Michael Weeder </span><span style="font-size: small;">of
Cape Town</span><span style="font-size: small;">, I said the
war crimes in which children, women and men are killed
indiscriminately, no matter who commits them, must stop, and stop
now, not just for a ceasefire but forever. I also called for hostages
to be released and for us all to learn the painful lesson of the last
month, which is that war does not resolve human conflict. </span>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> So please, help me elevate
the call to stop this war, and all war! Even as we go on our knees to
pray, we need to boycott those who supply arms to the Middle East,
including those in the West who are fuelling this war by providing
weapons even as they pursue partisan diplomatic initiatives. Help our
church to move beyond calling only for ceasefires in situations of
conflict, but to elevate the need for peace anywhere and everywhere
war occurs, so that the world will instead focus its energies and its
passions on fighting inequality, hunger and poverty. </span>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> Meanwhile, in parishes and
dioceses across our Province, pastoral work continues. After the
service in the Diocese of Mthatha, I travelled to Makhanda to attend
to issues at the College of the Transfiguration and for the funeral
of a dear former parishioner, Colleen Rippon. There I also interred
the ashes of Canon Suzanne Peterson, formerly Sub-Dean of the
Cathedral in Grahamstown Diocese and later my Public Policy and
Advocacy Officer at Bishopscourt. As this issue is published, I am
heading for Nigeria for the 12th General Assembly of the All Africa
Conference of Churches, which this year also celebrates its 60th
anniversary. </span>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> As we enter Advent, may our
prayers be of repentance, forgiveness, healing and reconciliation.
And as we prepare to celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace, be
assured that ultimately we are destined to live in the salaam, the
shalom, the peace which our God promises us. </span></p><p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>God bless</i><br /><br /><i><b>††Thabo Cape Town</b></i></span></p><p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { color: #000000; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-ZA }p.cjk { font-family: "Noto Serif CJK SC"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: zh-CN }p.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: hi-IN }a:link { color: #000080; text-decoration: underline }</style> <br /></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-91630402173828819762023-11-14T12:25:00.001+02:002023-11-14T12:25:06.562+02:00Sermon for the Commemoration of the Martyrs of Mbokotwana, All Saints Parish <p align="center" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Diocese Of Mthatha</b></span></p>
<p align="center" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>143</b></span><sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>rd</b></span></sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>
Commemoration of Martyrs of Mbokotwana and Centenary of All Saints Parish,
Mbokotwana </b></span>
</p><p align="center" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sunday, 12</b></span><sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>th</b></span></sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>
November 2023</b></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;">
<br>
</p>
<p align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25;
Psalm 126; Philippians 3:4b–14; Matthew 10: 16-22</i></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;">
<br>
</p><span></span><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/11/sermon-for-commemoration-of-martyrs-of.html#more"></a>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-49308380221196707622023-11-14T09:23:00.001+02:002023-11-14T09:23:33.085+02:00Holy Disrupters: Interview on HIV and compassion <p class="date selectionShareable"><i>From the UNAIDS website: </i><br /></p><p class="date selectionShareable">13 November 2023</p><div class="body"><p class="selectionShareable"><strong><a href="https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2023/november/20231113_thabo-makgoba-archbishop-cape-town" target="_blank">Holy Disrupters: Interviews with religious leaders and advocates on HIV and compassion</a></strong></p><p class="selectionShareable"><strong></strong></p>
<p class="selectionShareable"><strong>Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town</strong></p>
<p class="selectionShareable"><em>UNAIDS speaks to the Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba about his work on HIV and his hopes for the future</em></p>
<p class="selectionShareable"><strong>What was your experience working on HIV in the early days?</strong></p>
<p class="selectionShareable">I first started working on HIV in around
1998 when I was a rector in Johannesburg and it was a scary time, I
remember the South African television adverts saying ‘AIDS kills’ with a
coffin that banged—we were all terrified. Everyone was scared, there
was a lot of stigma, parishioners were also dying from fear and lack of
knowledge.</p>
<p class="rtecenter selectionShareable"><em><strong>"There was an immense fear that life had come to an end…."</strong></em></p>
<p class="selectionShareable">Through Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others
we knocked on every door and established the Anglican Church of
Southern Africa’s AIDS programme called <a href="https://www.almalink.org/inacsa.htm">ACSA</a>. We hit the ground running but there was an immense fear that life had come to an end….</p>
<p class="selectionShareable"><strong>How has your work changed today?</strong></p>
<p class="selectionShareable">Today our work has evolved—from
fundraising, to incorporating HIV messages in the liturgy, in the
prayers and in the readings. Today we make sure we don’t work in silos,
we work with the mining companies, with the other churches and we work
from an interfaith context—challenging our governments to do the right
thing.</p>
<p class="selectionShareable">Much has happened in recent years and
things have changed. There’s a sense of trust that has developed and
partnerships now are much easier. As leaders, we have learned to work
together, we’ve learned to work together on the ground, but we’ve also
learned to work with our international partners. I’m hugely grateful to
PEPFAR. Initially there was a degree of suspicion but once we realized,
through UNAIDS, that PEPFAR is there to help us check our own resources
and to strengthen our resolve to help people – a great deal of trust has
been developed.</p>
<p align="center" class="selectionShareable"><strong><em>“There is nothing more pro-life than PEPFAR.”</em></strong></p>
<p class="selectionShareable">I pray that PEPFAR will be reauthorized to
ensure that the commitments that we have made are realized. There is
nothing more pro-life than PEPFAR. Millions of mothers and children have
been saved from dying because of PEPFAR.</p>
<p class="selectionShareable">UNAIDS has also been essential. UNAIDS has
showed us how important numbers and record keeping are, how important
data is. We have to be systematic, we have to be thorough in our
interventions, understanding that evidence-based interventions are
critical.</p>
<p align="center" class="selectionShareable"><strong><em>“UNAIDS has showed us how important numbers and record keeping are, how important data is.”</em></strong></p>
<p class="selectionShareable">In faith communities you can drown in the
tsunami of problems, you throw yourself into your work without really
knowing whether the intervention is working. But through praying,
partnering with others, looking at the numbers and seeing the impact on
people whose viral load has been reduced has been a great experience—we
have learned a lot through working with UNAIDS and PEPFAR.</p>
<p class="selectionShareable"><strong>What does the faith community bring to the response to HIV?</strong></p>
<p class="selectionShareable">It’s the fact that we are there. We are in
every corner, even where governments can’t reach with their 4x4’s we
have a little church there, we have a mosque there, we see God’s people
every Sunday at the very minimum. We marry we bury we baptize, and we do
this work not because we want to be paid or we want constituencies, it
is our vocation and our calling.</p>
<p class="selectionShareable"><strong><em>“We marry we bury we baptize…. We are in every corner, even where governments can’t reach with their 4x4’s”</em></strong></p>
<p class="selectionShareable">Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, a Jew
or a non-believer, you are a child of God and you need healing. We
don’t exist for ourselves, we exist in order to show the love and care
of God in the communities.</p>
<p align="center" class="selectionShareable"><strong><em>“We smile at you so please smile at us, because together we have made this possible.”</em></strong></p>
<p class="selectionShareable">We must ensure that no more children are
born with HIV, we must work together to ensure that every child living
with HIV has immediate access to treatment and we must ensure that those
children will be alive and thrive. That way in 2025 they will come here
saying “you have allowed us to live, and we smile at you so please
smile at us, because together we have made this possible.”</p>
</div>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-12056924861147872402023-11-12T08:59:00.002+02:002023-11-12T09:15:51.649+02:00Archbishop's message to Palestine solidarity march<p><i>The text of a message read for Archbishop Thabo Makgoba at a march in solidarity with Palestine in Cape Town on Saturday November 11:</i></p><p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">The unspeakable violence we are seeing in the land
which three religions call holy is a result of the denial of
people's rights and the failure of their leaders to work out
a just solution for governing the land which they now
occupy. The war crimes in which children, women and men are
killed indiscriminately – whether in Gaza, the West Bank or
Israel – must stop, and stop now, not just for a ceasefire
but forever. Hostages must be released and all parties
must learn the painful lesson of the last month, that war
does not resolve human conflict.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">And much as statements and marches should continue
for their moral power, we need to elevate our interventions
to stop any nation which supplies weapons to parties in the
conflict from doing so. We need to call out the shameful
partisanship of Western powers in this conflict, to commend
countries which have suspended diplomatic ties with Israel
and to call on those countries to review diplomatic ties
with countries which are supplying arms. If only the world
leaders would invest half as much money and energy into
peacemaking as they invest in war, we would have peace. It
is time to end violence over the Holy Land. It is time to
end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories
along with all of Israel’s unjust policies against
Palestinians.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">We commit ourselves as a church to praying and
working for an end to apartheid in the Holy Land and for a
just and sustainable peace. And we will not forget others
elsewhere who suffer, such as in Ukraine and in Sudan, where
a church was bombed on All Saints Day, and where 9,000 have
been killed, five-and-a-half-million have been displaced,
almost wiped off the face of the earth. </span></span> </p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sisters and brothers, in spite of the apparent
hopelessness of many of the situations we face in the world,
we must take assurance from our holy books, that justice
will prevail and that ultimately we are destined to live in
the salaam, the shalom, the peace which our Creator promises
us. </span></span> </p>
<p></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-43821681656573467812023-11-06T13:21:00.003+02:002023-11-06T13:21:39.806+02:00Sermon preached at All Saints, Plumstead, Cape Town
<p class="western" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Archbishop Thabo Makgoba</b></span></p>
<p class="western" style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>115</b></span><sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>th</b></span></sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>
Anniversary Service </b></span>
</p>
<p class="western" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>All
Saints Anglican Church : Plumstead</b></span></p>
<p class="western" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>5</b></span><sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>th</b></span></sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>
November 2023 </b></span>
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;">
<br>
</p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>Revelations
7: 9-17; Psalm 34: 1-10,22; 1 John 3: 1-3; Matthew 5: 1-12</i></span></span></p><p class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.28cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br>May I speak in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.<br><br>Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is an honour and a privilege to have been asked to share with you the Word of God as you celebrate 115 years of service, witness and ministry through God’s love and grace here at All Saints. Many thanks, Archdeacon Mkhuseli Lujabe, your leadership team and to the whole community of All Saints Parish for inviting me. Thank you everyone for your warm welcome. Thank you too to those who worked to prepare for today.<span></span></span></span></p><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/11/sermon-preached-at-all-saints-plumstead.html#more"></a>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-72287001244921179892023-10-30T06:00:00.001+02:002023-10-30T06:00:00.164+02:00STATEMENT ON GAZA AND ISRAEL <p><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">STATEMENT
ON GAZA AND ISRAEL </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"></span></span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
escalating levels of fighting and destruction we have seen in Israel
and Palestine since October 7 are fast turning the land we call holy
into one of those places in the world where conflict and deep-seated
violence is destroying any form of human society based on a sense of
the common good and even levels of minimal human decency. The
injustices and aggression which characterize the conflict between
Israelis and Palestinians tear me apart, forcing me into quiet
contemplation of the horrors we are seeing, wanting to cry out for
ceasefires and humanitarian corridors, but almost despairing of
whether it will make the slightest difference. </span></span></span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span> </span>The
rhetoric of the parties to the conflict, demonising their enemies as
inhuman, is frightening in its familiarity to South Africans who
lived under apartheid. For as our Truth and Reconciliation Commission
heard, it gave licence to soldiers on the ground to ignore the
professed assurances of humane treatment by their leaders and to
commit gross violations of people's human rights. Dehumanising
rhetoric leads to crimes against humanity and, in Rwanda, it even led
to genocide.</span></span></span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span> </span>Just
as we condemn Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, and the horrific
October 7 attacks on civilians – reminiscent of the pogroms carried
out against Jews in the past – so too we condemn the Israeli
attacks on Gaza which Amnesty International has documented as
unlawful and indiscriminate, leading to mass civilian casualties.</span></span></span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> <span> </span>I
stand with the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem in
their statement that: “We unequivocally condemn any acts that
target civilians, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, or
faith. Such actions go against the fundamental principles of humanity
and the teachings of Christ, who implored us to 'love your neighbour
as yourself' (Mark 12:31)."</span></span></span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> <span> </span>Together
with the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, Dr Hosam Naoum, I call
for:</span></span></span></p>
<ul><li><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">An
immediate cessation of violence; and</span></span></span></p>
</li><li><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
establishment of humanitarian corridors into Gaza to facilitate the
provision of food, water, medical supplies and electricity to
civilian infrastructure. <br /></span></span></span></p>
</li></ul>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span> </span>I
also call for the unconditional release of hostages and stand with
the church leaders in Jerusalem as they appeal for sincere dialogue
aimed at finding lasting solutions that promote justice, peace, and
reconciliation for all the people of the Holy Land. The occupation of
the West Bank of the Jordan has to be ended and the Palestinians
given the right of self-determination there and in Gaza. Equally,
Israelis need to be able to live in peace and security. </span></span></span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span> </span>Finally,
the international community needs to take responsibility for its role
in fuelling the conflict with its weapons exports to the Middle East.
Any nation which arms a party to the conflict, whether directly o</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">r</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
indirectly, implicitly makes this war its war too. I reiterate the
appeal by church leaders in Jerusalem:</span></span></span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span> </span>“We
call upon the international community to redouble its efforts to
mediate a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land, based on equal
rights for all and on international legitimacy.”</span></span></span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"></span></span></span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;">
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
Most Revd Thabo Makgoba</span></span></span></b></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-top: 0.2cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Archbishop
of Cape Town</span></span></span></b></p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { color: #000000; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-ZA }p.cjk { font-family: "Noto Serif CJK SC"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: zh-CN }p.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: hi-IN }a:link { color: #000080; text-decoration: underline }</style></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-11283836650441414102023-10-29T19:48:00.012+02:002023-10-29T19:53:57.585+02:00“Growing in Christ” - Address to the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia<p style="text-align: center;"><b>“Growing in Christ”<br>Address to the Convention of<br>The Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia<br>Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town<br>Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa </b><br></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><br>October 27, 2023</b><br><br><i>Bishop Matthew,<br>Delegates and Office-holders of the Convention,<br>Your Excellency, the Mayor of Martinsburg<br>Sisters and Brothers in Christ,<br>Friends:</i><br><br> I bring you warm greetings from your sisters and brothers in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa where we're moving into summer after the coldest winter we have experienced in a very long time. On Lungi and my behalf, thank you, Bishop and Mrs Cowden, your staff and your teams for your great hospitality. Thank you Revd Tim, Karen and Nonhla for driving us, and Tim, especially for the time we spent together seeing some of the countryside. Thank you all so much for your ministry of welcome and inclusion. For me, the real keynote of my time with you has been your welcome and hospitality, the Bishop's sermons and homilies and the joy of being part of your Diocesan Convention.</p><span></span><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/10/growing-in-christ-address-to-episcopal.html#more"></a>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-76548511972079964682023-10-25T16:47:00.014+02:002023-10-25T16:57:09.063+02:00Ad Laos - To the People of God – October 2023<p> <i style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">Dear People of God</i></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Since I last wrote to you, the world has been busy and I have been busy too with the work of the Lord, trying in the midst of a punishing travel schedule to keep focussed on the Lord of the work.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">After the September meeting of the Synod of Bishops, I left Provincial Standing Committee early so Lungi and I could travel to the Vatican to attend the consistory at which Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals, including my Catholic counterpart in Cape Town, Cardinal Stephen Brislin. It was a spiritually uplifting service, as were his first Mass as cardinal in St Stephen’s Chapel in the Vatican Gardens and the ecumenical prayers for the opening of the church’s worldwide Synod of Bishops. We also enjoyed worship, and <span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2023/09/anglican-centre-in-rome-celebrates-50th-anniversary-of-the-john-moorman-library.aspx" style="color: navy;" target="_blank">the opening of an exhibition</a></u></span> at the Anglican Centre in Rome by Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">From Rome, I returned home to preach at this year's <span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://anglicansablaze.org/" target="_blank">Anglicans Ablaze</a></u></span> conference in Johannesburg, which as always is a time of blessing and joy. Now led by the Revd Bruce Woolley as director, Growing the Church, which stages these very successful conferences, <span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://anglicanchurchsa.org/growing-the-church-welcomes-new-liaison-bishop/" target="_blank">has since welcomed</a></u></span> Bishop Dalcy Dlamini of Eswatini, appointed by the Synod of Bishops as its new Liaison Bishop. During the same weekend, we held <span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/534273263315341" target="_blank">a glorious service</a></u></span> in the Diocese of Christ the King, where we consecrated Bishop Mkhuseli Sobantwana as their new bishop. Congratulations to both Bishop Dalcy and Bishop Mkhuseli.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Then it was back to Europe for a “Mining and Faith Day of Reflection”, a 10-year-old initiative I have been part of which creates safe spaces for courageous conversations to discuss how mining can best serve the common good and to commit to practical action. The event comprised faith leaders from across the world, also including Ghana, Brazil and Zambia, who met with leaders from some of the world's largest mining companies. It was good to connect there again within the space of a week with Cardinal Brislin and Archbishop Welby.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">As we prayed and shared fellowship together, in St Peter’s in Rome and Westminster Abbey and the Charter House Chapel in London, the sadness and hurt of the violence in many parts of our world intruded on us, especially when the true horror of the killings and abductions perpetrated by Hamas on Israeli civilians began to emerge. In my own moments of prayer, I could not help but think of the first century killing of Jews in Rome, of pogroms down the ages in Europe and genocide in Germany.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Thirteen years ago, at a United Nations meeting in Morocco convened to discuss Africa’s stance on Palestine, <a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2010/07/jerusalem-pursue-dialogue-and-learn.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: navy;"><u>I appealed</u></span> for faith communities</a> outside the region to draw on their various religious traditions to help find a just, sustainable and lasting peace in the Holy Land. In the last few days, I have prayed over the situation created when Britain was given a mandate to rule Palestine after World War I, and then gave 55 percent of Palestinian land to Israel after the Holocaust of World War II.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Just as we need sensible land reform in South Africa – something <span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/10/2023-algemene-sinode-van-die.html" style="color: navy;" target="_blank">I told the General Synod</a></u></span> of the Dutch Reformed Church a few days ago – we need to find a solution which brings justice, safety and freedom for all in the land we call holy. The occupation of the West Bank of the Jordan has to be ended and the Palestinians given the right of self-determination, but the horrific attacks on Israelis by Hamas will intensify the conflict, not help to resolve it. Equally, Israelis need to be able to live in peace and security, but neither will the air strikes which bring horrifying death and destruction to civilians in Gaza achieve that end.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Let us continue to pray for those caught up in all places of conflict, also thinking especially of Ukraine. The five biggest exporters of armaments in the world are the United States, Russia, China, Germany and France. Let us pray that they will promote diplomacy instead of peddling weapons of death and destruction. As we approach the Season of Advent, I ask that we turn our prayers to all victims of war, for those without food, water, warmth and shelter, and for those who have had to bury their loved ones.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Closer to home, we urge our leaders at various levels of government to intensify efforts to resolve our transport crisis, especially the passenger rail service. In the Western Cape, the collapse of much of the commuter railway system is a scandal which hits workers and the poor hardest.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">In the church, the graduating class at the College of the Transfiguration deserves special mention this year. They are a unique class, who began their formation and studies as Covid-19 struck and faced all the challenges associated with it. Congratulations to them all. Congratulations also to Mama Leah Tutu, whose 90th birthday we celebrated with a special service in the Cathedral in Cape Town on October 14th.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">We will soon be focussing on the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence – may this focus not be drowned out by global war.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Finally, may you be still and know that God in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is in each and every situation. Our hope is founded on Him.</p><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i style="font-family: serif;">God b</i><i style="font-family: serif; font-size: 12pt;">less</i></p><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><p align="left" class="western" style="background: rgb(246, 246, 246); border: none; direction: ltr; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 0.64cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><i><b>††<span style="font-family: serif;">Thabo Cape Town</span></b></i></p></div><p align="left" class="western" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-91123977949528658522023-10-19T07:23:00.004+02:002023-10-19T07:23:48.421+02:002023 Algemene Sinode van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk<p>
</p><p align="center" class="western">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Address
to the 2023 Algemene Sinode van die Nederduitse
Gereformeerde Kerk</b></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="western"></p>
<p align="center" class="western"><br />
<br />
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Voorsitter,</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ondervoorsitter,
</span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Aktuarius,
</span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Algemene
Sekretaris,</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Addisionele
lede van die Moderamen,</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Geagte
Afgevaardigdes,</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Broers
en susters,</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western"><br />
<br />
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ek
groet julle in die heilige naam van onse Here en Verlosser, Jesus
Christus: Goeie Dag! </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Baie
dankie vir die uitnodiging wat oorspronklik deur my vriend, Dominee
Nelis, uitgereik is; ek en my kerk waardeer die baie en dit is 'n
besondere groot voorreg om hier te wees. Ek is net jammer dat ek nie
persoonlik saam met julle kan wees nie. Soos ek vir die Sinode Wes
Kaapland vroeër in die jaar gese het, alhoewel die nuwe tegnologie
ons help om meer verpligtinge in ons skedules in te pas, kan dit nie
persoonlike kontak tussen ons vervang nie.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> As
'n mens die geskiedenis van ons twee kerke inagneem, is my
teenwoordigheid hier as 'n verteenwoordiger van die Anglikaanse Kerk
miskien 'n historiese gebeurtenis. In die vroeë twintigste eeu het
baie mense die Anglikaanse Kerk as die kerk van die Britse
"establishment" in Suid Afrika gesien; later het hulle die
NG Kerk as "the National Party at prayer" gesien. Nou
beklee nie een van ons daardie posisies nie, en ek waag dit om te sê
dat dit ons in staat stel om die Evangelie baie meer effektief te
verkondig.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Dit
is ook belangrik dat ek hier staan as President van die
Suid-Afrikaanse Raad van Kerke. Vyf-en-viertig jaar gelede het wyle
Biskop Desmond Tutu, destyds die Algemene Sekretaris van die Raad, en
wyle Dr Frans O'Brien Geldenhuys, die direkteur van ekumeniese sake
van die NG Kerk, 'n gesprek begin in baie moeilike omstandighede. Ek
hou daarvan om te dink hulle sou opgewonde wees om die uiteindelike
resultate van hul toenadering te sien.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Before
I continue, please allow me to speak briefly of the situation in the
land we call holy, the place where Jesus was born, nurtured,
crucified and raised, and the place which Judaism and Islam also call
holy. We all agonise over what is happening there, shocked and
disturbed at the levels of hatred we see, where Palestinians are
oppressed in ways we once experienced here and where Israeli
civilians are brutally attacked and killed in scenes reminiscent of
the anti-Jewish pogroms of Europe in the Middle Ages.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Last
week the Anglican Church sent to our parishes a prayer for the Holy
Land, in which we asked God to grant the people of Palestine and
Israel – and I quote from the prayer – we asked God to grant
them: </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.25cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Wise
leadership,</i></span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.25cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Gentle
hearts, and</i></span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.25cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>A
new beloved community, embodying</i></span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.25cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>love,
truth, justice, peace, forgiveness and reconciliation.</i></span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Last
Saturday we celebrated the 90</span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
birthday of Mama Leah Tutu, and I told them that I am sure that at
this moment, ninety-nine of every one hundred Palestinians and
Israelis would say that anyone who believes that God will grant us
that wish of a new beloved community is crazy. But we in South Africa
have shown the world that it is not crazy to envisage a time when, in
that beautiful biblical phrase, common to both the Jewish and
Christian scriptures, “The wolf shall live with the lamb,” and
“the leopard shall lie down with the kid”. (Is. 11: 6) It might
be hard for us to imagine today, but just as it was possible for us
in South Africa to overcome the hatreds and bitterness of the past,
it is possible for Israelis and Palestinians to do the same, and all
people of faith need to work and pray tirelessly to that end. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Turning
back to South Africa, ek hoop die afvaardiging van Wes-Kaapland sal
my vergewe as ek hier – en ook later – verwys na wat ek 'n paar
maande gelede aan hul Sinode gesê het. I read that passage in
Chapter 28 of Matthew's Gospel, which tells us how, on that first
Easter, after Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had found Jesus's
grave to be empty, an angel appeared to them and said: “Do not be
afraid... he has been raised from the dead.” The women then left
the grave, and hurried to tell the disciples the Good News. In one
translation, it says that they left the tomb “met vrees en groot
blydskap”, but in the translation I preferred, it says, “</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Hulle
het toe haastig van die graf af weggegaan, bang maar baie bly...”</i></span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
told the Western Cape Synod that as we contrast what is happening in
our beloved country today with the joyful message of Easter, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">we
too can feel, “Bang, maar baie bly” – alhoewel ons is bly vir
die opstanding van ons Here en Verlosser, Jesus Christus, ons is ook
bang vir die toekoms van ons land. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> And
indeed, there are many reasons to be afraid for the future of our
land. Although we have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights which are
the envy of the world, the promises of our Constitution have not been
fulfilled. We are a country scarred by the most glaring inequality
experienced anywhere in the world, the gap between the rich at one
end of the spectrum and the poor at the other end being wider than in
any other country. We are mired in the mud of corruption. Services we
built for our people have collapsed in some areas and money budgetted
for new services and infrastructure is too often stolen, misdirected
or inefficiently spent. Too many public servants have forgotten they
are servants of the public. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Recently
I have joined other religious leaders in what we call “Walks of
Witness” to areas in which people are suffering because of
government failures. I first went to the site of the gas explosion in
the Johannesburg city centre. A few weeks later, I was at building,
also in the Joburg city centre, where nearly 80 people died in a
terrible fire. Black South Africans like me who grew up in Joburg
under apartheid knew that building, number 80 Albert Street, as the
Johannesburg pass office, where, at the thump of a stamp in your
“dompas”, you were either allowed to stay in the city, or were
endorsed out to try to eke out a living in your rural Bantusan. To
see one kind of suffering in that building replaced by another kind
of suffering under democracy made me want to weep.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> So
we face crises on every side, almost too many to count. But we should
remember that church leaders warned us that this might happen. Back
in the early years of democracy, Desmond Tutu said: “</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Even
a freely-elected democratic government is still made up of frail,
vulnerable human beings who may or may not succumb to the
blandishments of power.” </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Our
Oom Bey,</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>
</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Dr
Beyers Naude, alerted us to the danger of complacency in 1996, when
he said: “</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>People
tend to say that now that we have a new government, now that we have
a new Constitution, now that we have solved our political problems,
for the time being, there is no prophetic role for the Church at the
moment. I think such a perception is a very serious mistake.” </i></span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Back
in the 1990s, we avoided what could have been a bloody war, the likes
of which we now fear seeing in the Middle East. That was due to the
efforts of many South Africans, with Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk
of course playing the central role, but the churches also played an
important role, both at congregational level and through leaders like
Dr Johan Heyns. Like </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Moses
and the children of Israel in that great story of the exodus, we
liberated ourselves and escaped the bondage of Egypt. But now we have
to make sure we don't spend the next 40 years wandering in the
wilderness. The church has an important role to play if we are to
reach the promised land.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> We
need to take the warnings of Desmond Tutu and Beyers Naude to heart.
We still have a prophetic role to play, and as people of faith we
need to work out, here and now, how best to mobilise our energy, our
courage, our imagination, our skills and our political will, and
channel them into a coordinated effort to support those in our
society who are committed to fulfilling the promises of the
Constitution. We need to work together to answer the cries of the
poor, to complete tasks half-done, and to respond to new obstacles
that have emerged.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Returning
to my message to the Western Cape Synod, let us consider again the
response of the women at the empty grave that first Easter morning.
Despite their conflicting emotions of grief and joy, despite their
confusion and fear as they tried to take on board the meaning of what
they had seen and heard, they summoned up the courage to move
forward. Faced with the might of the religious and political
establishments which had crucified our Lord, they were not
intimidated. They faced down their fears, and went out bravely to
proclaim the Good News of the Risen Christ.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> As
the Christian churches of South Africa, we need to summon up the
courage shown by those women, summon up the courage displayed by
Desmond Tutu, Beyers Naude, and Johan Heyns, and take the lead in
setting an example of moral courage to our people and our political
and community leaders. As a nation, we face probably the biggest
challenges of the democratic era. But just as the disciples on Lake
Galilee were reassured by Jesus in the middle of a terrifying storm,
we too can be reassured by his words to them: “It is I, don’t be
afraid.” He will be with us, strengthening our resolve.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Many
of you may know that since the failures of the Zuma administration in
South Africa, I have been repeatedly calling on all South Africans to
join what I call the New Struggle, a new struggle for a new era, a
new struggle for a new generation, a struggle to regain our moral
compass, a struggle to end economic inequality, and a struggle to
ensure that the promises of our Constituion are kept. And I am
hopeful that if the churches, other religious bodies and civil
society join this struggle, we can succeed in turning South Africa
around and putting us back on the path on which Nelson Mandela set
us. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> For
if we compare ourselves to many parts of the world, and especially to
regions such as West Africa, we come to this struggle with advantages
that others don't enjoy. We have a strong and independent civil
society, we have an independent media, we have term limits for our
presidents and, very important, we have a democratically-elected
Parliament.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> That
is why I have been using whatever influence I have to urge all South
Africans, and especially young South Africans who have never voted
before, to register to vote in next year's elections. As I have said
often this year, I understand why many, many young South Africans,
both white and black, are disillusioned with politics. The behaviour
of our politicians discourages them from joining the political
process and they can't see a way of making a difference in public
life. But if they register to vote, then go out and vote in their
numbers, they </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>can</u></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
and </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>will</u></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
bring about change. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> And
a number of us, including former President Mbeki and the SACC General
Secretary, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, are concerned that white South
Africans – and especially the Afrikaner community – are becoming
alienated from our national life. It is very important that you
exercise your rights to speak out, to join debates on our future and
to organise politically if we are to secure our future. Don't be
silent because of concern you will be called a racist; every single
one of us, black and white, has the same rights under our
Constitution, and we all need to exercise them if our democracy is to
truly reflect the concerns and wishes of all our people. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> I
am sure that many of your members are concerned about land reform. As
I told the Western Cape Synod, we need sensible policies of land
reform which will not prejudice our economy. The government's land
reform programme is clearly failing, and my own belief is that we
need to introduce Gospel values into the debate around it: sharing,
reconciliation, healing and taking care of our neighbours. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> A
fully-developed policy of redistribution needs both to take into
account that there is more demand for urban than for rural land, and
to provide an economic model for developing rural land, including
education and practical help for those who want to work the land. We
should decentralise the process by allowing people to work out local
solutions appropriate to local situations, and it should be a tool
for real transformation, to address the inequality of opportunity and
the high rate of unemployment from which we suffer. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> In
summary, as I said in the Western Cape, sensible land reform policies
can find compromises which both protect our economy and meet the most
urgent needs of those who want to farm the land and produce food for
our people. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> I
conclude by urging you to claim the place in our society which our
Constitution guarantees you, namely one of critical participation in
our democracy. Jesus tells us in John's Gospel (10:10): “I came
that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” It is my prayer
that as we walk together into the future, we will build a South
Africa in which all will have life, and have it abundantly. </span></span>
</p>
<p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> God
bless you, and God bless the deliberations of this Synod. </span></span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p align="justify" class="western" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Archbishop
Thabo Makgoba</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span>
</p><br /><p><style type="text/css">p { color: #000000; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-ZA }p.cjk { font-family: "Noto Serif CJK SC"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: zh-CN }p.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: hi-IN }</style></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-19413307154329435762023-10-16T13:41:00.002+02:002023-10-16T13:41:13.564+02:00 Archbishop's comment on violence in Israel and Palestine<p>Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has condemned the violence seen in Israeli and Gaza in the last week. <br /><br />He was asked by the newspaper, Rapport, on his response to "the violent attacks on Israel by Hamas" and "Israel's violent retaliation in Gaza". <br /><br />The Archbishop said the Church's position was reflected by the prayer he issued last week: <a href="https://anglicanchurchsa.org/a-special-prayer-for-palestine-israel/" target="_blank">A Special Prayer for Palestine & Israel</a></p><p>He added: "I condemn all violence, whether the horrific attacks on Israelis which are reminiscent of the European pogroms of the past, or the indiscriminate bombing of Palestinian civilians. Both are contraventions of international humanitarian law."<br /><br />Link to the Rapport article, which mainly concerned the Dutch Reformed Church's forthcoming General Synod:<br /><a href="https://www.glodiebybel.co.za/israel-hulpkreet-op-sinode-se-lys-2023-10-15/" target="_blank">https://www.glodiebybel.co.za/israel-hulpkreet-op-sinode-se-lys-2023-10-15/</a></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-67850126845045804632023-09-28T09:17:00.008+02:002023-09-28T09:34:27.657+02:00Archbishop Thabo Makgoba's statement on the Church's resolution on Israel/Palestine<p> <i>Archbishop Thabo Makgoba issued the following statement on the decision by Provincial Standing Committee to declare Israel an apartheid state. The PSC resolutions on Israel/Palestine will be found on <a href="https://anglicanchurchsa.org/" target="_blank">the church's website >></a></i></p><p>
<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="300" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1627262274&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe></p><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/anglicanmediasa" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="AnglicanMediaSA">AnglicanMediaSA</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/anglicanmediasa/archbishop-thabo-makgoba-speaks-on-israelpalestine-resolution" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Archbishop Thabo Makgoba speaks on Israel/Palestine resolution">Archbishop Thabo Makgoba speaks on Israel/Palestine resolution</a></div>
<p></p><p>TEXT:</p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As people of faith who are distressed by the pain of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza – and who long for security and a just peace for both Palestine and Israel – we can no longer ignore the realities on the ground. We are opposed not to the Jewish people, but to the policies of Israelis' governments, which are becoming ever more extreme.</span></p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">For Christians, the Holy Land is the place where Jesus was born, nurtured, crucified and raised. Our hearts ache for our Christian brothers and sisters in Palestine, whose numbers include Anglicans but are rapidly declining. People of all faiths in South Africa have both a deep understanding of what it is to live under oppression, as well as experience of how to confront and overcome unjust rule by peaceful means. When black South Africans who have lived under apartheid visit Israel, the parallels to apartheid are impossible to ignore. If we stand by and keep quiet, we will be complicit in the continuing oppression of the Palestinians.</span><br /></p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If we are to celebrate peace for Palestinians and security for the </span>Israelis in in<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> our time, we need to pray and work for the land we call holy, for an end to the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank and for full recognition of the Palestinians' inalienable right to self-determination.</span><br /></p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We yearn for peace and the wholeness of God to be made manifest in Palestine, in Israel and among their neighbouring countries. I pray the prayer we adopted at the last meeting of the Provincial Synod, the ruling body of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa:</span><br /></p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lord God,</span></p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Bless the people of the Middle East;</span></p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Protect their vulnerable children;</span></p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Transform their divided leaders;</span></p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Heal their wounded communities,</span></p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Restore their human dignity,</span></p><p align="left" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and give them everlasting peace. AMEN.</span></p><p><span style="color: #888888;"></span></p><p align="left" style="background: transparent; color: black; direction: ltr; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /></p>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3688746875508901935.post-37684499054523237362023-09-22T09:14:00.023+02:002023-09-22T11:37:52.977+02:00At UN, Archbishop Makgoba urges G20 to boost spending on combatting HIV/Aids among children<p>Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has called on the G20 group of nations to
boost their spending on combatting HIV and Aids among the world's
children.</p>Speaking on the sidelines of United Nations meetings
in New York, he said the coronavirus and war in Europe had taken
attention away from the plight of children infected by HIV and Aids.<br /><br />“Right
now, the main focus in relations between the world's most powerful
nations on the one hand, and the countries of Africa on the other, is on
that which is negative: on military interventions, on the export of
weapons and mercenaries to Africa, and on the economic exploitation of
our raw materials,” he said. <br /><br />“If the economic powers of the
world wish to improve their image in Africa, they could do no better
than boosting their aid in the health arena. Specifically, the United
States should reauthorize PEPFAR, and their European and Asian
counterparts in the G20 group should follow their example.”<br /><br />PEPFAR
is the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an initiative
launched in 2003. Since then, the American government has spent $100
billion on its global HIV/AIDS response. The US Congress currently faces
a vote on whether to continue the programme.<br /><br />Excerpts from Archbishop Makgoba's address on Thursday follow:<br /><br />“In
an era when world attention has been distracted by Covid, and then by
war in Europe, keeping a focus on ending the scourge of HIV/Aids is of
critical importance. Especially tragic is the way in which the
coronavirus pandemic and international tensions have taken attention
away from the plight of children in this health crisis...<br /><br />“Right
now, the main focus in relations between the world's most powerful
nations on the one hand, and the countries of Africa on the other, is on
that which is negative: on military interventions, on the export of
weapons and mercenaries to Africa, and on the economic exploitation of
our raw materials. <br /><br />“When President George W Bush introduced
PEPFAR, with bipartisan support in Congress, he promoted the image of
Americans as caring and compassionate people, people who saved millions
of lives in Africa. No American programme has saved more lives of
mothers and babies than PEPFAR. There is nothing more pro-life than
PEPFAR. <br /><br />“But that image of the United States now threatens to be
replaced by one in which you present yourselves as primarily a military
power, only interested in Africa as a battleground in your fight
against international terrorism.<br /><br /><div>“But you and your partners
in the G20 nations in Europe and Asia can turn this around. If the
economic powers of the world wish to improve their image in Africa, they
could do no better than boosting their aid in the health arena.
Specifically, the United States should reauthorize PEPFAR, and their
European and Asian counterparts in the G20 group should follow their
example.”</div><div></div><br />The full text of the address can be found here:<br /><a href="https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/09/prioritizing-children-in-hiv-response.html">https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/09/prioritizing-children-in-hiv-response.html</a><div><br /></div><div>(<i>This is the text of a news release issued by the church.)</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Read more here:</i></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2023/september/20230920_unga-hiv-progress" target="_blank">The path that ends AIDS by 2030 will boost progress towards achieving many other Sustainable Development Goals</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRDazkQ0OQfnoHqb7sNEKWQYHKN5dlNQm-xjFmy6ueiSqyZeT4_gveTg-fCJR4OdJ5wfDwoJS_UULTchJkekX8fKUSa0yY-GXP56N6Ieo38XDwqumGQAvcSLbCKx2OLamefZ4RsIvzM7rEZdRh7re0K2UaKrE2LAsrYXGdcpWsxWrltU3JS0P40wqg6Gp/s960/UNAIDS_092023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="960" height="413" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRDazkQ0OQfnoHqb7sNEKWQYHKN5dlNQm-xjFmy6ueiSqyZeT4_gveTg-fCJR4OdJ5wfDwoJS_UULTchJkekX8fKUSa0yY-GXP56N6Ieo38XDwqumGQAvcSLbCKx2OLamefZ4RsIvzM7rEZdRh7re0K2UaKrE2LAsrYXGdcpWsxWrltU3JS0P40wqg6Gp/w640-h413/UNAIDS_092023.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">UNAIDS, the Governments of Botswana and the United States of America, together with the European Commission have joined global partners to urge world leaders to get on the path that ends AIDS. This, they say, will also accelerate progress to reach many other of the Sustainable Development Goals. </span><b style="text-align: left;">[UNAIDS photo] </b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div>Anglican Media Office, Bishopscourthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416730381187488900noreply@blogger.com0