Letter to Minister of Home Affairs, voicing concerns for Zimbabweans in South Africa

The following letter was sent to the Minster of Home Affairs, the Honorable Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, on 30 December 2010.

My dear Minister

In the days following Christmas, Christians read how the child Jesus and his family were forced to flee their home and take refuge in a neighbouring country. This year, as I have seen on television the long queues of Zimbabweans waiting to register their presence in our country, this biblical account has held fresh resonances for me, and prompted me to write to you. I trust that my words will find an empathetic response from you, who have yourself experienced exile and were fortunate enough to find welcome in a foreign place.

I want to begin by commending you and the staff at the Department of Home Affairs, for making such efforts to ensure that as many Zimbabweans as possible complete the registration process before the end of year deadline. It is a vast undertaking, which has been tackled with great commitment. Yet I am also aware that because of the very great numbers, because of the need to apply when people can take time off work, and because many have faced problems in obtaining Zimbabwean papers, there are great fears that, for reasons largely beyond their control, not all will be able to complete the process timeously.

The government has of course made it clear that there can be no repeated extensions of the deadline, for those who continue to fail to get their act together. But my great concern is that no-one who is wanting and attempting to normalise their presence in our country should be penalised because of capacity constraints or delays that are not of their own making. My particular plea is for the deadline to be implemented with true humanity that allows for elastic interpretation across a transitional period of grace – perhaps as much as another 90 days – so that all who are striving to lodge their registration may be enabled to do so.

Alongside this, may I ask for continuing careful, comprehensive, public communication, not only aimed at the Zimbabweans themselves, but also to us, the South Africans among whom they live. In particular, we should all be informed clearly about what is to happen from the stroke of Friday midnight onwards. What are the next stages of the processes underway? What is the situation for those who have not completed registration – or who have failed, for whatever reason, to attempt it? What will happen to those who do not quality for permission to remain in South Africa? Clarity in all these areas is necessary, both for the greatest peace of mind of those directly concerned, and for easing good community relations.

What matters most is that throughout the period ahead, true humanitarian standards are upheld. Every individual must be treated – and feel themselves treated – with dignity and respect. Though I ask for gracious magnanimity in the processing of applications, I know that some will not be granted permission to remain here. We stand to be judged – but also have the opportunity to demonstrate best practice to others – on how we handle these cases, and particularly the enforcement of repatriations where these are necessary. I am assuming that you are in close and continuing contact with your Zimbabwean counterpart to ensure coordinated arrangements, should forced repatriations need to be made.

None of these tasks are easy, so let me assure you and your staff, of my own continuing prayers, and those of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, as you implement policies that have such potentially far-reaching impact on the lives of individuals – many who have suffered so much through the recent troubled history of Zimbabwe. In releasing this letter to the public, I invite all South Africans of faith to join me in these prayers, and in praying for a just and lasting solution to Zimbabwe’s political turmoil. May South Africa, through our government, not shirk the opportunities we have to promote peace and prosperity at this time of year – so that God’s promises of peace and goodwill may be truly known by all.

Yours in the service of Christ

+ Thabo Cape Town

Sermon at Midnight Mass, St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

Isaiah 9: 2-7, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-20

May I speak in the name of the living God, who is born this day in the city of David: our Saviour, who is the Messiah, Christ the Lord. As we celebrate once again the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, let me be the first to wish you all a Very Happy Christmas! May it be a time of peace and joy, of promise and hope, of shared love with family and friends!

And let me, on behalf of everyone here, thank the sub-Dean, Fr Terry Lester, the Canon Precentor, Fr Bruce Jenneker, Bishop Anthony Mdletshe and the rest of the Cathedral leadership team, together with the Director of Music, Mr David Orr, and everyone else who works so hard to sustain the varied life and ministry of the Cathedral, throughout the year, as well as in these wonderful celebrations of Christmas.

Though I risk being a little premature, let me also look forward to the New Year, and in particular to the coming of the new Dean. Regular Cathedral worshippers know this already, but let me announce to the wider Cape Town community that we have appointed the Venerable Michael Weeder to succeed Dean Rowan Smith. Fr Michael is currently the Rector of St Phillip the Deacon and St Bartholomew, Woodstock, and Archdeacon of the Groote Schuur area. A son of Cape Town, he is one of our most senior priests, with over 25 years in ordained ministry. Fr Michael brings together a deep spirituality, rooted in Jesus Christ, with a wide awareness of God’s world and its needs. There’s even a bit of the Barack Obama about him – in his experience of community mobilization, especially on behalf of the wounded and marginalised!

I am sure he will continue the great tradition at St George’s, of being ‘the people’s Dean’ – both serving the Cathedral community, and encouraging the Cathedral in its calling to serve God’s world. I am sure he will be a courageous and spiritual leader, who will take the Cathedral forward into a new chapter in its significant life within our church and city. It is my intention to install him as Dean on 22 May. Between now and then, may I ask you all to pray for him, and his family – his wife Bonita, and children Chiara, Andile and Khanyisa - as they prepare to take this new vocation and ministry.

But let me now return to our celebration of Christmas! What, for you, is the heart of Christmas?

In the famous passage from St Luke’s Gospel, just read to us, we heard how the shepherds came into Bethlehem from their fields, in order to find the baby Jesus; and how they told Mary and Joseph of their miraculous encounter with the Angel of the Lord. They repeated the words the Angel had said to them – words which held the key to understanding these strange and wonderful events. The Angel said ‘Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.’

And then we heard that ‘Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.’ In the days, the years, that followed, Mary pondered those words in heart, and wondered about what it all meant. So - what does it all mean to you?

For many of us, a lot of our Christmas preparations has been about hunting for the right presents. When you get home tonight – or perhaps when you wake up in the morning – you will find them waiting for you: under the tree, or at the end of your bed: presents like this: [placing a large, beautifully wrapped, Christmas present on the side of the pulpit].

Lovely, isn’t it! So beautiful to look at! Aren’t I lucky to have such a gorgeous present! And, you know – perhaps it would be a shame to open it – because then I’d have to tear off the ribbons and rip the paper, and spoil its beauty. Well, let me just leave it there for a moment and tell you a story.

There was once a man, a god-fearing man, who went to church regularly, and knew that the Christmas story is all about God the Father sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour. One day, terrible rains came – it just kept raining and raining and raining. The nearby stream began to rise, and rise and rise. The man began to get concerned, and he prayed ‘Lord Jesus, come and save me.’ And the man’s neighbour came by in his big 4-by-4, and said ‘Let me rescue you, before it is too late – come with me.’ Yet the man replied, ‘Thank you – I’ll just stay here – I’ll be OK. Jesus will save me.’ And he prayed some more, ‘Lord Jesus, come and save me.’

But the rain kept on falling and the waters kept on rising. The man was now sitting on the window-ledge, because the flood waters were inside his house, up to his ankles. And a policeman came past in a boat, and said ‘Let me rescue you, before it is too late – come with me.’ Yet the man replied, ‘Thank you – I’ll just stay here – I’ll be OK. Jesus will save me.’ And on he prayed ‘Lord Jesus, come and save me.’

And still the rain kept on falling and still the waters kept on rising. By now the man was standing the roof of his house, because the flood waters were way up the walls. And the emergency services’ helicopter came and hovered above him and one of the crew leant out, with his loud hailer, and shouted ‘Let me rescue you, before it is too late – come with me.’ Yet the man replied, ‘Thank you – I’ll just stay here – I’ll be OK. Jesus will save me.’ And he kept on praying ‘Lord Jesus, come and save me.’

Still it kept on raining, still the waters rose, and finally the man was swept off his house, and he drowned.

Being a god-fearing man, he found himself in heaven, though he remained perplexed that Jesus had not saved him as he expected. One day, he had the chance to speak to Jesus. ‘Lord’, he said, ‘May I ask you a question?’ ‘Go ahead’ said Jesus. ‘Lord’ he said, ‘when the flood came, why didn’t you answer my prayers and come and save me?’ ‘Well,’ said Jesus, ‘I sent a 4-by-4, then a boat, and then a helicopter – what more did you want?!’

What then is the moral of this story? God our Father’s greatest gift to us certainly is his Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. But we cannot merely receive him as the sweet story of a baby in a manger, and leave it at that. To do so is to keep hold of a beautiful present, but never open it, and discover the treasures within. Such a faith will be of little use to us. We need to unpack our faith – and get to know what it means for Jesus to be our Saviour and Redeemer – the one who calls out to us ‘come with me’ to us, every day of our life.

This can be a challenge. First, we have to let go of any beautiful romantic ideas about faith, and take up Jesus’ invitation to ‘follow me’, not knowing where he may lead us. His call is to follow his example – to live according to his standards – to turn our back on all that is destructive in human behaviour, and to strive for all that is good. We have to give up selfish living, doing things our own way, and do things God’s way instead.

This is not always easy – but there is good news for all of us who dare to put our lives into the hands of the living God. For, as we heard in our first reading, he promises to be to us a Wonderful Counsellor – guiding us in our choices about how we ought to live – so that we may be, as our second reading put it, ‘zealous for good deeds’. He will be the Almighty God, who encourages us with his own strength, to live the lives to which he calls us, so we do not have to do it on our own. He will be our Everlasting Father, who loves us and cares for us, far more than we can ever imagine – whose infinite love is for every single one of us here. And he will be our Prince of Peace, so that whatever life brings our way, we can have that deep assurance that he will see us safely through, if we hang on tight to him.

In these, and many other ways, we will find him meeting us, not only in churches and on Sundays, but – as my story, though a joke, illustrated – in the every-dayness of our lives. This is true, whatever we face in the world. Jesus will meet the people of Makhaza, as they seek dignity, health, safety through the toilet saga; he will meet the people of Sudan as they prepare for next month’s referendum; he will meet each of us, in every aspect of our personal, and communal, lives – if we will open our lives to him, and make him welcome, as we sung earlier.

This is a Christmas present worth unpacking – and, I can assure you, that no matter how long you live, you will keep on finding new treasures, as you ponder the meaning of those words of the Angel, in your heart. ‘Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.’ May this be to you the best Christmas gift of all. Amen.

More on Sudan

There are some useful resources for praying for Sudan, on the Anglican Communion website, at http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2010/12/21/ACNS4760.

New Provincial Canon

I am delighted to announce the installation of the Revd Sarah Rowland Jones as a Provincial Canon of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, on 10 December 2010. Sarah, who was researcher to Archbishop Njongonkulu, and who continues now as my researcher, has served both our Province and Communion with distinction. She is a key member of the Bishopscourt staff, not least as part of the communications team, and in her weekly preaching in our chapel. In this work, and as many of us experienced in her recent homilies at Provincial Synod, she brings her evangelical heritage creatively to bear on the high church traditions within our Province, pointing to Christ in fresh ways that speak to our present times and contexts. May God continue to bless her, and bless many through her ministry, in the years ahead.

Pray for Sudan

This media advisory was issued on 20 December 2010.

Anglican Archbishop calls for prayer for referendum in Sudan

The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, has called upon the Anglican Church in Southern Africa to join in praying for a free and fair referendum in Southern Sudan, where voting will run from 9 to 15 January 2011.

Archbishop Makgoba said ‘I invite everyone else who cares for lasting justice and peace on our continent, to join in the special prayer which I have issued. I am commending it for use from Christmas through the entire referendum period, and then on until the results have been counted and announced, and a peaceful transition is set in motion to whatever future lies ahead.’

Dr Makgoba went on to say ‘One of the titles of Jesus which we remember at Christmas is his coming as “Prince of Peace”. So let us pray urgently that true peace may come to all the peoples of Sudan, who have suffered so painfully, over so many years.’

Archbishop Makgoba’s Prayer for Sudan

Lord Jesus, you who said, "I leave you peace. My peace I give you," look with mercy upon our sisters and brothers in Sudan during this Referendum period. Send your Spirit to guide them in choosing a future of godly peace and abundant life for all. May the voting be peaceful, free and fair. May the results be honoured by all. Grant healing from the agonies of the past, and bring a new beginning of lasting hope, harmony and justice to the people of this land. We ask this in your name, Lord Jesus, Amen

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town on 20TH December 2010 Inquiries: Ms Sisanda Majikazana on 021-763-1320 (office hours)

The following background note was issued to the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, giving information on the Referendum in Sudan, and sharing the perspective of the Bishops of the Episcopal Church of Sudan.

From 9 to 15 January 2011, the people of Southern Sudan will vote in a referendum on whether they should remain a part of Sudan. A simultaneous referendum will be held in the region of Abyei to decide whether it should become part of Southern Sudan. There will also be ‘popular consultations’ in the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains on their future. The referendum is part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement reached in 2005.

There are many concerns around the preparations for, and conduct of, the referendum; as well as about how the outcome of the vote will be received, in both the predominantly Christian South and Muslim North. There are particular worries for the safety of Christians in the North and Muslims in the South, after results are announced.

The Bishops of the Episcopal Church of Sudan issued a statement at the All Africa Conference of Bishops in August 2010, which gives fuller background. It is available at http://www.sudan.anglican.org/100829statement.php. The Sudanese Bishops particularly ask for the following support in prayer:

1. that all the churches of Africa stand firm with the people of Southern Sudan, Abyei, Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, and support the choice they make in the upcoming referenda and popular consultations – whether for unity or separation.

2. for the Church in northern Sudan as it continues to face official persecution from the Khartoum government, with brothers and sisters who daily witness to faith in Jesus Christ experiencing suffering as they do so; and for the future of Christianity in northern Sudan.

Archbishop and Religous Leaders endorse Safely Home Campaign

This media advisory was issued on 15 December 2010.

Anglican Archbishop and Transport Minister Launch ‘Safely Home’ Road Safety Partnership

Today (15 December 2010), the Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town and Chair of the Western Cape Religious Leaders’ Forum (WCRLF), and Western Cape Transport Minister Robin Carlisle launched a road safety partnership between the Safely Home campaign and the WCRLF.

Minister Carlisle and Archbishop Makgoba were joined by other members of the Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum. The WCRLF issued a statement in support of the Safely Home Campaign. The text of the statement is carried below.

Commenting on the statement, the Archbishop stressed the values of the sanctity of life, and described the commandment to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ as a basis for behaving considerately towards pedestrians, motorists and other road users. He underlined that this meant no drinking and driving, nor talking on a cell phone while behind the wheel, nor going without a seat-belt, and warned younger drivers against risky dicing. He wished a merry Christmas to those celebrating the birth of the Christ-child, and a peaceful and safe festive season to everyone.

Statement in support of the Safely Home Campaign

The Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum (WCRLF), representing all faith communities in the Province, welcomes the opportunity to support and fully endorse the Safely Home Campaign, initiated by MEC Robin Carlisle and the Department of Transport and Public Works. We pray that their efforts to reduce the tragic loss of life on our roads over this festive season will be successful.

However we realize that this is the collective responsibility of all South Africans. Each of us must ensure that our behaviour on our roads reflects not only the law of the land but our belief in the sanctity of all life. It is the responsibility of every individual to protect and respect the life and dignity of another. Our faith traditions emphasize that all life is sacred and that we are each created in a divine image. Therefore the safety of all South Africans whether drivers, passengers, pedestrians old or young, is of paramount concern.

This ‘season of giving’ should not be tainted by careless, inconsiderate and negligent behaviour which can only result in chaos on our roads and a needless loss of life. This holiday season challenges each of us to be aware of the dangers of alcohol consumption, drug abuse and road rage, all of which endanger our own lives, the lives of our loved ones and the lives of innocent South African citizens.

On behalf of all faith communities we endorse the efforts of the traffic authorities to react as vigorously as possible and call upon all people to co-operate when encountering road blocks, to adhere to traffic regulations and drive with courtesy and consideration at all times. The wearing of seat belts and the checking of vehicles for road worthiness must be the norm.

As people of faith we want to say that life itself is the gift of Christmas. It’s a divine gift that must be received, nurtured and protected. On the roads we hold the gift dangerously in our hands. Almighty Allah says in the Holy Quran: ‘Do not bring destruction upon yourselves through your own hands and do good all of you.’ (Al Baqarah: Q2:195)

Life on our roads is in peril. But we do have a choice. In sacred text God says: ‘I lay before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.’ (Deuteronomy 30:19)

May we choose well this festive season.

Finally, the Religious Leaders are not trying to pour cold water on the festival spirit. Far from it - we want South Africa to celebrate, we want South Africa to enjoy a time of rest and relaxation, we want our Christian community to enter the full meaning of the birth of Christ, and above all we want reconciliation and reconnection to be experienced in all our families at this time. But we appeal for care, compassion, consideration for others as we strive together for safety on our roads.

May the one God bless South Africa, guard us, guide us, keep us and protect us and bring us all ‘safely home’. Amen

15th December 2010, Cape Town